


you're ever welcome with me anytime you like

by thishorseiswack



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-12
Updated: 2015-01-20
Packaged: 2018-02-25 01:57:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2604344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thishorseiswack/pseuds/thishorseiswack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carmilla and Laura find that they don't exactly want to be apart when the school year ends, no matter how much they don't want to admit it at first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. undisclosed desires

**Author's Note:**

> This is set after their first year at Silas. Title is from Blue Ridge Mountains by Fleet Foxes. There will be more chapters if I ever have time after work. I like to start new works a lot though, and it takes a while for me to continue with my current ones, but I'll try!

Laura just arrives back at their dorm room after a 12-hour long workday. She trudges to her bed and drops her book bag, shoulders slumping as she rubs her eyes and plops down in her computer chair. She glances at her alarm clock on the shelf above her bed and sighs at what is written on it: 10:14pm. She isn’t quite sure why she sat down in the first place because she has to shower and study for her English test tomorrow afternoon. She takes her time rinsing herself with a little too much hot water, and she doesn’t mind the sting of the scalding water and the burning red blotches on her skin once she is finished. By the time she comes out of the bathroom, she notices something out of the corner of her eye that seems just a tiny bit peculiar.

A steaming cup of cocoa is there, waiting for her on her desk. She looks around with a slight smile on her face, and only until her roommate straightens her back from behind the fridge does Laura notice Carmilla.

“Evening, cupcake,” she rasps, her voice creating an odd feeling in Laura’s knees, as if they were going to give out (but even if Laura had to swear on her life, she would never admit that Carmilla made her knees go weak). Carmilla chugs her soy milk, and Laura can hear her greedy gulping from across the room.

“Hi,” she says weakly, suddenly noticing the steam in the air above her TARDIS mug, bringing her attention back to the cocoa. “Did you leave this here for me?” she asks, pointing to the hot beverage.

  
Carmilla nods while she wipes her lips, Laura’s eyes going wide at the small blood smear on the top of her hand. “Yeah, it isn’t hard to brew up a cup of cocoa from some milk and cheap powder that has been sitting here for months.” She walks back to her bed, and Laura picks up her mug, ready to take a small sip as she notices her yellow pillow just before Carmilla sits in front of it and blocks her view.

Usually, she would tease Carmilla about it before she would finally give it back up to Laura (no matter how disappointed she looked for a split two seconds until it flashed away and her facial expression went back to its original state). But tonight, Laura smiled into her cup and slowly walked to her own bed and cracking open her textbook, occasionally hearing a soft mutter or two from Carmilla as she reread one of her books.

She couldn’t help but admire Carmilla; her stance, her eyes as they moved from one side to the other in a flash, her eyebrow often rising as she read something interesting or amusing, her slow but steady flip of the page, and the frequent soft snort that she emitted that is usually followed by a small head shake that Laura can only see if she truly pays attention.

But that’s just it. Laura always pays attention. To the way Carmilla ties her batwing charm around her wrist so gently, the way her hands move when they do so, and the way she smiles softly before quickly getting up to avoid Laura’s gaze. When she catches a glimpse of Carmilla’s gentle actions, she wonders how many she has missed when she wasn’t paying attention. She wonders whether it’s too late to find out how Carmilla acted before the night where she had pulled Laura closer to her, played with her hair, and looked at her with such sincerity and passion that Laura swears made her mind go blank and her heart beat irregularly. She is literally about to say “Duh!” out loud when she notices her webcam on top of her computer monitor, and she makes a mental note to re-watch all of her videos featuring Carmilla when her roommate is out.

It happens to be two days after noticing that she can literally watch Carmilla watch her online, and Laura slowly pops a cookie into her mouth as she watches all of her videos. She sees Carmilla giving her seduction eyes in nearly all of them, most of all are behind her back, and she notices her expression change towards Laura once she had said, “Hell, even you deserve better.” She watches Carmilla put the batwing charm around her wrist (hating herself for practically blushing at that moment), she watches herself be oblivious when she had wondered if Carmilla had been flirting with her, she watches Carmilla fight for her more than once, letting her fight for herself as well, always protecting her, and leaving little cups of cocoa here and there while sneaking in a sincere, however small, smile.

Laura notices Carmilla, really, truly notices her, and the way she is around her, and the way her voice changes when she speaks to her, and the way she smiles when they hold eye contact, and the way Carmilla does this and that. Laura smiles to herself, not being able to stop the blood from rushing to her face.

They are like this for the next little while. Unsure of what to call their status, Laura simply calls it “seeing each other”. They leave little gifts for each other when their busy days sometimes call for being away from each other for a day or so. Carmilla makes Laura cocoa right before she goes to sleep so Laura wakes up to a mild mug of hot chocolate. Carmilla never stops calling her the little pet names that she always loves to hear, and Carmilla says “Laura” whenever just seems about right. Laura leaves the yellow pillow on Carmilla’s bed, making sure it’s in its right spot every day before she returns home.

Home? Laura had never called her small shoebox of a room “home”. Yet, that is truly how she felt about it. Calling their room home where she could see Carmilla after a long and tiresome day just about felt perfect.

It isn’t long before Carmilla mentions the future after months of this subtle yet completely obvious relationship they share together.

“Where are you going after school ends?”

“What?” Laura is startled just a bit, only because it had been so quiet for about an hour or so, and Carmilla’s sudden question makes Laura jump in her chair. Carmilla had never asked her what she is planning for next year; in fact, they barely even talk about the future.

“You know, for the summer.”

“Oh.” Laura wheels around in her chair, facing Carmilla who happens to be hiding behind her book. “Well, I’m probably going to go back… you know, back to my house.” She couldn’t bring herself to call it home.

“Oh, okay.”

There is no change of tone in her voice, yet Laura senses disappointment.

“Why?” she asks, getting up to sit down on Carmilla’s bed, her hand centimetres away from Carmilla’s feet. She shifts her feet slightly, and Laura notices, however she doesn’t move her hand. Carmilla lifts the book up just a bit more, still as stubborn as ever, and Laura raises her eyebrow, pursing her lips together.

“Carm,” she whines, setting her hand on her knee. She feels Carmilla twitch beneath her, yet still no other movement from her. She loses patience fast, and slowly reaches to lower her book from hiding her expression. Carmilla is one step ahead of her, and her grip on the book is already so tight that Laura tries to push the book down with two hands and is unsuccessful.

Laura sits back after Carmilla calmly flips the page, and she sighs and thinks for a second. Slowly, she reaches for Carmilla’s feet, digging her hands beneath them. She carefully digs her fingers into her feet, smoothing her thumbs over the tops of her feet. She massages Carmilla’s feet for a few minutes, even after she feels her tense up from the contact.

However, Carmilla doesn’t budge. Laura is starting to get fed up because she wants to know why Carmilla wants to know when the school year ends and they are apart. She wants to know why Carmilla cares, and if she cares just as much as Laura does when she thinks about the next few weeks that will be their last here together in this room. Her patience is gone and she rips her hands away from Carmilla’s feet and slams them on the bed so hard she almost sees Carmilla’s shoulders tense just when she seemed almost relaxed.

“Dammit, Carmilla!” she yells in that “soft, Laura-kinda-way” as Carmilla had once put it. She finally lowers the book and sighs, staring at Laura with an expression that looks like “sorry”, even though she remains silent.

“Why can’t you just tell me?” Laura asks in a small voice, quieter than she had wanted. “This isn’t a big deal.”

A few moments of silence before Laura is about to give up and Carmilla finally speaks. “The last time I told you something, it was humiliating.”

Laura quickly looks up at her, staring at her with a fixed gaze even though Carmilla’s eyes are avoiding her.

“Well, things have changed. I’m not so oblivious now,” she jokes, lightly touching Carmilla’s knee. She immediately looks up at Laura, nodding and silently agreeing.

“Well, I was honestly just wondering what you would be doing this summer, out of sheer curiosity.”

“Carmilla!” Laura is practically begging and Carmilla would be a fool for not noticing, and she smirks for the first time that night.

“I like it when you beg,” she drawls, “do it again.”

Laura’s eyes widen and her hands fling to her own lap, looking down as she starts stammering.

“Listen, I just want to know why because”-

“Beg or I won’t say another word,” Carmilla says, her staring making Laura uncomfortable, which is ironic, because Laura has been constantly staring at Carmilla for the past few months.

“Please, Carmilla.” Laura can’t bear to look up. Carmilla chuckles darkly and practically purrs.

“Alright, but it’s honestly not a big”-

“It’s a big deal to me,” Laura interrupts, still looking down at her hands, nervously playing with her fingers.

“Okay. I wanted to know because I was going to ask you if I could visit you sometime.”

Laura practically squealed in excitement, because that is the exact reaction she was hoping for. Instead, she grinned from ear to ear, and jumped on Carmilla, despite the immediate tension of her body.

“I knew it!” she laughed, hugging Carmilla. After a few seconds, Laura realized their position and she propped herself up with one hand beside Carmilla’s head, staring down at her.

“You knew it?” she almost whispered. Her hands had stopped pushing on Laura’s chest, and instead slid down her stomach, causing a shiver to emit from her roommate. Laura sat up straight, Carmilla following her movement, still staring at each other.

“Yes, well, I think now is an appropriate time to go to sleep,” Laura says way too enthusiastically, and Carmilla scoffs, looking down and smiling.

“Sure, cupcake.”

Laura jumps into bed and turns off her light as quickly as possible, still hearing Carmilla laugh after doing so. Laura hopes vampires can’t see in the dark, otherwise her red face would stick out unmistakably.

“I was reading, you know,” says a voice in the dark. She chuckles again, and Laura hides herself under her sheets slowly. She wonders why Carmilla would think about asking to come with her.

Does she even have anywhere to go? Surely she has a house somewhere- or maybe she doesn’t, maybe she just lives in the dorms during the school year and just travels by herself during the summer. Would she miss Laura? Well, of course, if she asked to visit her, that means Carmilla would want Laura around. But for how long? Questions floated around her mind, and as much as Laura wanted to go to sleep right away, it takes her longer than she would have liked to admit.


	2. patience

It's finally the end of school year, and everyone is rushing around the residence to say goodbye to their friends. It's a bit sad, knowing that next year they won't have the exact same room, in the exact same hallway, with the exact same neighbours, but Laura pushes the sad thoughts away as she packs her things and visits her friends rooms as much as she can. She hasn't seen Carmilla since last week, when she packed all of her things into a small duffel bag and said "got some things to handle, cutie, clean up nicely- but don't tire yourself out, alright?" and with a smirk, lifted her bag with one arm to hang over her shoulder while she closed the door behind her without another word.

So it seems likely that every time she hears footsteps down the hallway she can't help but glance towards the door to see if her roommate will come charging in. There is laughter and excited chattering throughout the entire residence, and Laura chimes in, pretends to be happy while masking her worry and the fact that she misses Carmilla.  

A few hours later, and Laura waits in an almost empty room for her. The dorms are slowly emptied, one by one, and she finds herself to be one of the last few in the entire residence. Her dad should be here anytime soon, and she keeps checking her watch more often as the time passes. Her foot keeps bouncing up and down from her impatience, and she looks around the room.

The room that they held basically all of their memories in this year is empty, and it creates a hollow feeling in Laura's heart. No bed sheets, no food in the fridge, none of Carmilla's clothing littering the floor. It seems dead to her, like no one had been living in it for years.

She sits in the old computer chair for what seems like ages rather than simply 6 hours (she can't be blamed for being impatient, because 6 hours is a long ass time, she thinks).

She worries that Carmilla won't show. She's been worried all day, worried that maybe, just maybe, Carmilla won't even come back and she won't see her until next year. If Carmilla is coming back at all. The dean will most likely be here again next year, so perhaps she will be, too. 

"Clean up nicely"? Laura thinks about that, and she wonders if maybe Carmilla knew that she wouldn't be back in time for the moving out day. But with no goodbye? Nothing but some playful words that were basically said t remind Laura to clean out their entire dorm in one day so it's acceptable for the students to live in next year? And to not tire herself out from the cleaning? How could she leave just like that? With no other words, not even a hug?

She doesn't know how she will contact Carmilla if she doesn't show. She has a phone of course, but Laura has far too much pride for being the first one to contact her. 

She looks around the room and remembers the events that happened in each corner. When Carmilla would sit on the window sill and stare out at the stars, when Laura had bickered with her to clean the shower drain and Carmilla disappeared into the bathroom, when she would lay on her bed and watch Laura silently over the novel she was pretending to be interested in. How just a few months after meeting, their relationship developed into something that almost seemed like girlfriend and girlfriend. How they would quietly do things for each other like massage each other's backs and feet after a long day. Or make dinner for each other, or even do the others' laundry. They were basically dating, Laura thought. Practically married, like Perry and LaFontaine, except less domestic, even though Carmilla would never admit to it.

Laura fears this really might be the end. The end of their playful banter, their almost-relationship, the fact that she would call her food nicknames to no end and how they would always look forward to seeing each other everyday. This really might be, and she's afraid.

It's dark outside. The campus seems dead and deserted. She gets a text to meet her outside and she sighs, getting up slowly. After she lifts up her bag and heaves it over her shoulder, she walks to the doorway, putting her hand on the door frame. She takes one last look at the room. It almost looks nostalgic to her, and with that, she slowly closes the door, even though every other door in the hallway remains open. 

She had cleaned the room up nicely, but she tired herself right out, her mind racing with worries, fears, and desires. 


	3. Fords and Porsches

Laura closes the doors to the dormitory, and sees a car parked, but still running, right in front of the old building. She walks around to the passenger side, opens the car door and slides in, dropping her bag in the limited space in front of her feet. She slams the car door shut, reaches for her seatbelt and is about to turn to face her dad, when a familiar voice makes her freeze. 

"Careful with that door, cutie, you don't want the owner to get mad about that, now would you?"

Laura stops pulling the seatbelt and whips her head up and to the person seated in the drivers seat. Carmilla is clutching the wheel with her right hand, smirking over her arm at Laura, who can only just gape at her. She hadn't even realized that the car she got into is not, in fact, her dad's Ford Focus. She had been so concentrated on going home, seeing her dad again, and the fact that she will be away from Carmilla than even taking a second to glance at the car in front of the residence. She had just assumed no one else was left behind at the university, and that it must be her dad's car. Instead, it is Carmilla's (unsure if it is actually Carmilla's at this point) Porsche, which Carmilla reveals to her later on as the 911 Carrera 4 model.  

"But, but, you, you were gone for like a week, you didn't even say anything, I was going to-"

"I know." Carmilla's lips slowly change into a frown, and she sighs quietly. "I had some things to take care of."

"And where on earth did you get this car?" Laura asks, looking around on the seats behind her, for some reason expecting someone to be tied up there, but all she can see are the leather seats and some bags on top of them. 

"I bought it," Carmilla responds, with a tone that sounds almost as if she's offended. 

Laura lets the seatbelt snap back loudly, earning a wince from Carmilla, but she's calm, and rests her hands in her lap. She can't bear to look at Carmilla.

"I just didn't think you'd be able to go without so much as a 'bye' or a 'hey, I'll be gone for a week, don't assume I've gotten killed or anything.'" Her voice is quiet and Carmilla, for once, has no response.

She instead reaches in her pocket and reveals a plastic package that contains two oatmeal cookies. Taking her hand off of the wheel, she opens it loudly, spilling some crumbs as she does so, and offers one to Laura. 

It takes a few seconds for Laura to look up at the peace offering and she finally accepts, taking it and munching on it quietly as Carmilla puts the car in drive. Her sudden acceleration causes Laura to hit the car seat gently, but the road is smooth so it's quite enjoyable.

Laura allows the few moments of silence, but Carmilla has still not been forgiven. She prides herself in having the upper hand here, knowing that Carmilla will be asking for forgiveness sometime soon, and she will have to come up with a way for her to earn her forgiveness, and that, thinks Laura, will definitely be worth that week of waiting. 


	4. company

It isn't long before Laura learns that Carmilla drives so fast that she has to hold on to the handle above her seat in an attempt to remain calm. They are speeding their way through the highway when Carmilla explains that her dad had called Laura's phone last Thursday while she was in class, and an annoying pop tune had blared through the room continuously until she snatched it and answered it before her eardrums bled. Once she told her dad that Laura was in class, he gave Carmilla a message to pass onto her, which was that he couldn't pick her up from the university the following week. Carmilla had apparently told him she could drop her off since that was on her way home anyway, and he had agreed, however, only to proceed to ask her questions about herself, "for my daughter's safety", he had stated. 

"He asked you your Social Insurance Number?!" Laura nearly drops her fast food drink (courtesy of Carmilla for the whole "I left for a week with no words" thing, along with a meal and a few more snacks that made Laura sugar high)  and hits the windshield when Carmilla unexpectedly slams the brakes to avoid smashing into the car in front of them that reduced its speed all too quickly. She silently counts her blessings when she realizes her hand hadn't loosened its grip on the grab-handle above her during this whole experience.

"Dammit." Carmilla honks the horn and drives around the slow car, shaking her head at it while she ignores Laura's question. 

"Please be more-" Laura is cut off by the sudden acceleration, hitting the seat again, but this time with more force. 

"Calm down, cupcake, I know what I'm doing."

Laura scoffs and looks over at her reckless driver. She really has to process the information regarding the fact that Carmilla had even volunteered to take her home. She had said it is on her way home, but is that simply an excuse to be with Laura? She'll have to get this information out of Carmilla eventually. 

"Do you really? Because I seem to think-" Laura stops talking when Carmilla swerves around a slower car again, "-That you are doing this on purpose."

Carmilla makes a face that suggests misunderstanding, and wrinkles her nose and her brows before she speaks. "This is how I drive- and besides, your dad wanted you home a long time ago." She looks at Laura now, raising her eyebrows. "Why did it take you so long to come out? Get stuck in the bathroom?" 

Laura avoids the obvious smirk on Carmilla's face and grips her pants with her free hand. "I was cleaning up, which," she looks at her now, "you told me to do. So why exactly are you complaining?"

Carmilla shrugs and, to Laura's relief, reverts her gaze back to the road. "I'm not, I was just wondering why you stayed longer than the residence staff, which, by the way, cleans everything that the students leave behind, including that terrible Zeta party you could hear across the quad."

Laura tunes her out, because, at this point, everything around them is turning into a blur, like watching a movie on fast motion, and she is starting to feel light headed. Carmilla seems to not notice yet, because she keeps talking casually while zooming through small towns and past slow cars. 

Laura emits a long sigh she doesn’t even hear over the pounding of her heart, and Carmilla immediately flips her head toward her, lifting her hand to touch Laura’s forehead. 

“Are you okay, creampuff?” she asks quietly, not taking her eyes off the panicking girl in the passenger seat. She rolls down the windows with her other hand (the hand that is supposed to be driving, and it sure is a good thing Laura doesn’t see this).

“I’m going to throw up,” Laura says, quietly but very surely, and Carmilla’s eyes go wide, slowing down for the first time since they left the university (not counting the times Carmilla had to slam the brakes because of other vehicles). She uses one hand on the wheel to pull over almost immediately and Laura sticks her hands out, one of her hands pushing against the car door and the other gripping Carmilla’s arm.

“Are you okay, Laura?” Carmilla’s voice is gentle while her hand is still touching Laura’s forehead, and it’s cold. The breeze flowing through the car’s open windows help with her nausea, and Carmilla’s hand is there, relieving her of the heat that was starting to envelop her body. The contact seems to calm her, and she relaxes under Carmilla’s icy hand.

And again, her _name._ She said her name.

All Laura can do is nod weakly and feel embarrassed for the fact that Carmilla pulled over for this nonsense. Carmilla holds the wheel with two hands, but notices Laura’s deep inhaling and exhaling and she leaves the windows rolled down.

She slows down a bit, and Laura only realizes this when she looks over at her hand gripping the handle, which seems to have been subconsciously loosened. The scenery around them is recognizable now, and Laura smiles softly, looking over at Carmilla, who stares straight ahead while occasionally glancing in the rear-view mirror. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Laura is still holding onto her pants, and she reaches over and wraps her hand around Laura’s. She sees Laura’s body relax, and she focuses on the road ahead of her while she drives.

Carmilla begins to slow down immensely after that.

 

-

 

They arrive at Laura’s house about an hour later, and she sees her driveway empty. Carmilla takes her hand off Laura’s and takes her keys out of the car, leaning back in her seat to look at Laura.

“So? Are you going, creampuff?”

Laura hesitates, but she finds herself opening the car door and leaning out. Carmilla just sits there, staring straight ahead again, and Laura looks at the back seats, seeing her bags.

“Do you want to maybe come in? For a little bit, until you get tired or something?” Her voice falters a bit, but she analyzes Carmilla’s facial expressions for a hint of what her answer will be. A few moments later, and she just barely nods, and says, “Yes, I’d like that,” so quietly, Laura almost thinks she imagined it until she sees Carmilla getting out of the car with her.


	5. sweet things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is so late, I've been so caught up with the new smash bros, and after work, I don't have much time, but this chapter is longer so I hope you all enjoy!

Opening the front door, Laura immediately smells comfort and familiarity. She inhales deeply, stretching her arms back and relaxing when she exhales. Carmilla is trudging behind her, carrying all of her things in one hand. She walks around Laura, who seems to be reminiscing one of her childhood memories and simply standing there, and drops her bags beside her. Laura finally snaps out of her nostalgic thoughts and turns to the vampire beside her, closing the front door behind her without even looking.

Carmilla finally gets a chance to look around, and she analyzes the area. There is a quaint kitchen overlooking the living area, a window in the wall connecting the two rooms. The living room consists of two small couches, a tv, and a fireplace that fit perfectly together in the small room right across from the front door. The stairs were located behind one of the couches, and there weren't many, but just enough so that Carmilla couldn't see onto the second floor. The house seemed much larger on the inside.

Laura glances down at her bags and smiles at Carmilla, although she looks more like she's trying hard to hold in a laugh.

"My room's on the second floor," she manages to say, and Carmilla rolls her eyes, even though she is far from annoyed. 

"Well if you had told me before, I would've known."

"No, I was only kidding, you didn't even have to carry them in," Laura says, reaching behind her to grab the handles of her backpack. Carmilla, however, is seconds ahead of her and picks them up effortlessly, throwing them over her shoulder and smirking, using her left foot to slip off her right boot, and vice versa. 

"No worries, creampuff," she drawls, stepping forth into the living room, her toes curling as she feels the soft carpet beneath her feet. Laura looks down in an attempt to hide her red face, because Carmilla is carrying _her_  bags effortlessly, in  _her_ house, beside  _her._ She leads Carmilla upstairs nervously and into the bedroom opposite of the top of the staircase. The light doesn't even have to be turned on for Carmilla to figure out that the room is indeed Laura's; she picks up on her heavily doused scent that is far more stronger than any other room in the house that Carmilla can smell. 

Laura flicks on the light switch and Carmilla's shift from the butterfly curtains to the Doctor Who memorabilia on her writing desk. All she can think of is, "typical Laura", and she purses her lips in an attempt to keep from smiling. 

The room isn't horribly small; in fact, it is a mediocre size, and it seems to fit all of Laura's belongings in it, as well as a fair amount of extra space. Laura's bed is located in between two windows that face the calm and empty street, with a bed-side table on either of the bed, underneath each window. The windows and bed face the door, while the writing desk is on the right wall when viewing the room from in the doorway.

There is a door located on the left wall, most likely leading to a bathroom, and beside the door, there is a small, outdated tv on an even smaller table that looks like it's seconds away from snapping from the weight. There are a considerable amount of knick-knacks on the walls, including posters, picture frames, and some pictures and articles cut out from magazines.

Carmilla takes a second to glance at everything, and when Laura clears her throat and turns around to motion to the space around them, she quickly diverts her eyes to the small girl instead.

"So, this is it," she smiles, looking at the walls behind and around Carmilla with an eager expression on her face, as if she is had been waiting for the entire school year to look at them again. 

"It's nice," Carmilla mumbles, and when Laura shifts her eyes to the vampire because of the lack of expression in her voice, she quickly smirks to hide the previous emotion expressed on her face. 

"It's a little embarrassing, what with the childish curtains and the bedsheets, but I've had them for so long, my dad would be devastated if I changed them." She laughs and continues, "He's a bit too nostalgic."

Carmilla shrugs and moves closer to Laura in the middle of the room. "That's not a bad thing." Laura shrugs and looks as if she is about to respond, but Carmilla cuts her off before she can even begin. "Is here okay?" she asks, lowering Laura's bags slowly to the floor.

"Oh, of course! Thanks." Laura smiles shyly, and upon receiving the okay to drop them, Carmilla carefully lets the bags fall to the floor with a small thump. "You know, you can stay here awhile, if you'd like," Laura says hesitantly, absentmindedly playing with her own fingers while she waits for Carmilla's reaction. The vampire smirks, knowing that this is Laura's way of saying she doesn't want her to leave. 

"Sure, if it isn't a bother."

And it isn't. 

 

-

 

Carmilla soon learns that Laura loves to cook. While baking cupcakes, she was about to open the cupboard that Laura had instructed her to do, since it apparently had the sprinkles, and she came across the stacks of cooking books. 

However, even if she hadn't seen the books, Carmilla would've known. She can see the way Laura beats the batter and pours it into the cupcake tray that she is a professional by now. 

They laugh as Laura manages to get icing on her face and in her hair, and the whole experience ends with the both of them covered in sprinkles and raw cupcakes while sitting on the floor with their backs against the cupboards. 

"I haven't had this much fun baking cupcakes, ever," she says, just recovering from a laughing fit. Carmilla licks her finger, and raises her eyebrows in agreement.

"I've never baked cupcakes."

Laura's eyes widen practically to the size of baseballs, and she is about to say something like an apology that she doesn't even have the need to do, but instead her breath lodges in her throat as Carmilla leans closer to slowly drag her finger along her cheek. 

Carmilla gazes in her eyes, and Laura finally feels her finger leave her cheek after what seems like an eternity. She watches Carmilla intently as she brings her finger to her lips to lick from her knuckle to her nail, and then finally slide it into her mouth.

Laura's mouth accidentally falls open slightly, watching the vampire do what she does best, and suck the icing off of her finger. Carmilla smirks and pulls her finger out, licking her lips slowly.

"It really is a wonderful experience," she says in a low, sultry voice that very closely resembles the voice she used when she had lit the candles that one night in their dorm room and she recited Laura's Kipling reading. "And lot's of good things come out of it."

Laura's eyebrow slightly twitches as she tries to make sense of what Carmilla just said. Luckily, her old roommate notices.

"We get these lovely cupcakes," she says with a smile while patting the oven where they are baking, "and I now have a legit reason to call you cupcake, cupcake." 

 _You always had a reason,_ Laura thinks. 

 

-

 

Once they clean up their gigantic mess in the small kitchen, they race upstairs while laughing as hard as they can for reasons they can't even explain. When they tumble onto her bed, Carmilla realizes it's simply from the thrill of chasing someone up the stairs while they're shrieking playfully to get away from your batter-filled hands. 

Carmilla succeeds though, and Laura is covered even more (if that's possible) in raw cupcakes and glitter and sprinkles. She turns her head to look at the laughing girl beside her on the comfy bed, and she bites her lip nervously as she realizes just how powerful that feeling in her stomach is whenever she looks at Laura. She feels as if her insides have been punched, and kicked and twisted and knotted- but it's the best feeling she's had in a very long time. 

Laura eventually relaxes, and looks to her to return her gaze. They are sprawled on their backs on half of the bed, their legs dangling off the edge.

"Do you mind that we're on your bed covered in junk?" Carmilla asks quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. Laura smiles and to her surprise, shakes her head. 

"I don't mind." 

Carmilla reaches to her cheek, holding it gently as she leans in quickly and takes hold of this wonderful, wonderful moment that they have now; alone together in the comfortable silence.

"Why didn't you tell me you were going?" Laura suddenly asks, her voice cracking near the end of her sentence, and if Carmilla looks hard enough (which she does), she can see Laura's lips quivering. They are so close Carmilla can feel her soft pants against her face.

"I didn't want you to worry, so I just kept it from you, and left," she whispers, stroking Laura's cheek with her thumb, and Laura leans into her gentle touch.

"Let me worry."

Then before she can think twice, Carmilla closes the small distance between them, and kisses her sweetly, softly, passionately. Laura tastes of sweet things; cupcakes and sugar and icing. Carmilla, to Laura's surprise, tastes exactly the same. 

 

-

 

Laura will ask her why she had left her without so much as a word, but much later. She always has lots of things to ask Carmilla, and she usually does, unless the situation proves more important than a silly question. This is one of those situations. 

 


	6. irresistible

The kiss lingers on their lips for minutes afterward, and they are panting from all of the laughter just moments earlier, their deep breaths puffing in each other's faces. Carmilla's thumb is rubbing Laura's cheek gently, and she is losing herself in the vampire's eyes as the seconds tick by so slowly; it's as if time has stopped entirely.

Carmilla is gradually falling farther, as well, her thumb continuously grazing the tiny girl's cheek in a rhythmic pattern as she falls, falls, falls. Laura's eyes are so easy to fall into, and she finds herself getting lost in the galaxies and cosmic wonders in the glassy orbs staring back into her soul. She can't help but feel so overly poetic in this moment, and she lets her thoughts progress without making any effort to stop or try to control them. 

Laura is the first to speak, although quite shaky, her voice trembling slightly as she gathers all of the air in her lungs and attempts to finally breathe regularly again. 

"Would you like to clean yourself up? I mean, you know-" she takes a deep breath now, although with a lot of effort, "um, maybe take a shower before you head out?"

Carmilla feels the swollen ache in her stomach- the one that only Laura can create- immediately dissipate, hung up on the last few words in Laura's sentence. It reminds her of the fact that she will have to eventually leave tonight at some point, because Laura never asked for her to stay over. It takes her a bit to get over this, and she tries her hardest to push this feeling deep down so it will hopefully disappear. 

"Sure, do you have any towels I could use?" Carmilla smiles her previous thoughts away, and Laura, naive as she is, believes it. She doesn't move, however, and lifts her hand to rest upon Carmilla's hand- which is still cupping her face- on her cheek. 

"Yes, I can show them to you," she pauses, lifting the corner of her mouth into a shy smile, "and I'll show you my secret to saving the shower drain from my hair."

Carmilla lets a deep-bellied laugh escape from her throat, her eyes closed for a short moment while she does, completely oblivious to the pink appearing on Laura's face. Carmilla slowly retrieves her hand, which still happens to have another hand holding onto it, and rests it on Laura's chest. 

"Sounds good, cupcake," she says with a wink, causing the corner of Laura's mouth to stretch until she's grinning like a child on Christmas day. 

 

-

 

 Carmilla attempts to dry her hair the best she can with a towel that Laura had given her, but it's still a damp, curled mess. She eventually gives up, considering the fact that it's at least no longer dripping, and exits the tiny bathroom to find a very adorable Laura laying on her stomach on her bed, reading a magazine, with a lot more skin showing than before, when she had shown her how to use the shower taps.

Carmilla freezes, her eyes dragging over the exposed skin and relishing in Laura's body. Her eyes race across her body, starting from her toes, to her lean calves, up to her thighs, her butt in those tight boy shorts, the curve of her back, her small shoulders, the straps of her tank top, down her lean arms, and then back up again to finally settle on her neck. A vampire simply cannot resist a succulent neck looking like this, and Carmilla all but  _prowls_ toward Laura, dropping her towel loudly enough on the ground to draw the attention of the blonde sprawled on the bed.

Laura is still finishing off a sentence about the scarves of the season when she speaks, "Oh, how was your shower, Carm?" She then looks up finally, her mouth opening a little once she sees Carmilla walking towards her, slowly and dramatically. She reaches the bed, and runs her finger along the small of Laura's back, eliciting a small, breathy "Oh" from the tiny girl. Her finger pulls the end of Laura's tank top along, sending shivers up her spine, which elicits a smirk from Carmilla.

"Carm, I-" Laura is cut off when Carmilla leans down to kiss the back of her neck, and they both flutter their eyes at the contact. 

"Shush," Carmilla practically purrs, and Laura is in absolute ecstasy from her words alone. She then does the unspeakable: she _sits_  down on Laura's butt, straddling her as her fingers trace her back lightly. Laura's heart is pounding, her breaths are heavy, and she can't seem to control the thoughts in her head. She can't even sputter a word; she lays there, gripping the forgotten magazine in her sweaty hands. 

Carmilla pushes her palms into Laura's back, rubbing in slow- painfully slow- circles, and Laura bites her lip as hard as she can in order to stop the moan that's begging for release. When Carmilla hits a tender spot, Laura digs her teeth so hard into her bottom lip, the taste of iron enveloping her taste buds. 

"Just do it," Carmilla breathes, becoming impatient with the lack of noise coming from the other girl. "Just moan."

"Carm," Laura whines, her eyes widening from the desperation that so obviously seeps from her voice. She can feel her face filling with blood; her face is hot to the touch, and she's afraid that if Carmilla comes close enough, she can feel the heat radiate from her. 

"You like this, creampuff?" Carmilla purrs again (Laura's eyes roll into the back of her head, because the mere thought of _Carmilla_ asking her that question turns her insides to mush), fluttering her eyes from the high she's experiencing from the smell of blood in the air. Laura grips her bedsheets when Carmilla grinds against her and digs her nails into her back. 

It's suddenly too hot in the room, and Carmilla lifts her shirt over her head, her black bra a sudden contrast with her pale skin. She leans down to kiss Laura's shoulder blade, biting gently as she smirks from the girl's reaction. Laura's breathing so deeply and she doesn't even care at this point, she can't even contain it anymore. The weight of Carmilla on top of her is driving her crazy, and she is about to flip her body around so she's facing the girl grinding on her, when the door bursts open. 

Laura's father is treated to the sight of his daughter gripping the bedsheets and arching her back underneath a raven-haired girl massaging her, of course, without a shirt. Laura jumps up so suddenly that it sends Carmilla flying off the bed, and plopping onto the floor. 

"Dad!" she exclaims, climbing off of her bed and pulling her shirt down. His face turns so red, that Laura truly believes it would set the record for "Most Red Face" in the Guinness World Records. 

"Laura, a word," he finally manages to spit out between gritted teeth after what seems like 10 minutes instead of only 10 seconds. He storms out of the room, and Laura takes a deep, shaky breath as she prepares to face the wrath of her seething father. A hand stops her, however, lightly pulling on her arm. Laura twirls around to face Carmilla, and as she does so, the memory slaps her in the face as she remembers what they had just been doing. 

"Laura, I should explain myself to your father," she says softly, and Laura shakes her head.

"No, he's my father, I have always been able to reason with him. Besides," she sighs, "I've always been a good girl. He has nothing against me, so this shouldn't be too hard." 

Carmilla lifts her hand to tuck a strand of hair behind Laura's ear. "Oh, ma chérie," she mumbles, and Laura can't help but look up into the vampire's eyes, blushing as she imagines how the two of them must've looked on that double bed of hers. Carmilla smirks as she leans in to kiss her- perhaps for good luck, Laura thinks.

The true reason is revealed when she feels Carmilla's tongue slide along her bottom lip, and Laura watches with fascination as the vampire leans back to lick her lips with a tongue that's slightly more red than usual. 

"Didn't want it to go to waste," Carmilla grins, her fangs gleaming as she plays with the blood on her tongue, the sensation filling her stomach with butterflies. Laura feels her insides fluttering, as well; simply watching a vampire lick her lips clean from her blood creates an indescribable sensation inside of her.

"That's..." Laura just blushes, wanting nothing more than to just cover her face with her hands, but instead, she waves the nervousness away as she mirrors Carmilla's smirk and plants her hand on her shoulder, leaning in to whisper, "It's not over. I want revenge." The fear of facing her father melts away as she notices Carmilla's laboured breathing.

Carmilla watches her with a dumbfounded expression as Laura turns and saunters to the doorway. She clutches the door frame as she blows her a kiss, whispering, "don't forget to put your shirt back on, _cutie_ ," and with that, pokes her head into the hallway to yell, "coming, dad!"


	7. home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh goodness this is late but yesterday's episode broke me, and I literally fainted after each Hollstein kiss. (I kinda rewatched it a billion times and I'm willing to keep going) I listened to Young Summer's Waves That Rolled You Under while writing it even if it doesn't make sense with it, but it has a good tune and I recommend listening to it while reading cuz it is gorgeous background noise while you're reading (or writing). Anyway, enjoy! I changed my writing a bit for this, maybe you can't tell but I like it a lot and will continue like this. But yeah, enjoy!! (And let's all cross our fingers and pray for more seasons cuz we all need it)  
> I love road trips and Saalbach, I visited it this summer on a road trip and damn was it beautiful, I will elaborate more in the next chapter but I just couldn't leave it behind when I learned that Silas was in Austria, I just had to.  
> (Also I promise Perry and LaF will eventually show up)

Carmilla is almost finished packing her things, since she most likely will be asked to leave anyway, when Laura comes marching into her room, muttering unintelligible things under her breath while pacing back and forth. Carmilla stops, swinging her bag over her shoulder, and watches her briefly. She quickly stands in front of her path to stop her, gripping her shoulders firmly. Laura looks up into her eyes and seems to shrink back, blushing profusely.

"Listen, about what happened, I just-" she starts stammering and Carmilla shakes her head and pushes a finger to her lips, earning her a wide-eyed stare from the shorter girl. 

"Don't." Carmilla smirks and Laura is about say she's sorry but the vampire shakes her head again. "Don't even think to apologize, either. Unless you want to apologize for the kiss we shared, too," she says, with a very perfect eyebrow raised. Laura smiles shyly and mumbles a "no" right before Carmilla leans down to kiss her gently (perfectly, in Laura's mind, absolutely, positively, fucking _perfect_ , and Laura thinks she might faint at how good she is at this--). Laura is very close to squealing in protest when Carmilla pulls away too soon.

"That is my apology," she whispers, "for getting you in trouble." She sighs, and is that a hint of red in her cheeks? "And for the whole situation in the first place, I don't know what came over me."

Laura releases a deep breath, one she didn't know she had been holding, once Carmilla places her hands on Laura's hips. They're staring at each other intently now, and when Carmilla hears the shuffling in the other room, she suddenly remembers that Laura is in trouble because of her. With Laura gazing in her eyes and her hands nervously placed on top of Carmilla's arms, she had almost forgotten her dad had even interrupted, even though she had literally just been thinking about it-- with Laura's lips so close and her eyes full of stars, it's hard to think about anything but-- a mere 10 seconds ago. 

"What did he say?" she suddenly mutters, smashing the fireworks and rainbows dancing in Laura's eyes. Laura is snapped out of her daydream, and she sighs from the grip that is tightening around her waist.

"He said that I'm disrespectful, to him and his rules, that he is appalled by my behaviour, and that he can't even register what is happening, because of how amazing of a child I have been for my whole life, " she takes the biggest breath, since she was basically running out of air, and continues running her mouth wickedly fast, her eyes darting all over in order to explain herself as best she can, "and I can't help but feel like I've disappointed him so much, but also I don't regret it because wow I can't believe that happened and it all just seems so unreal and-"

"Laura, Laura!" Carmilla smiles and cuts her off, no matter how offended the shorter girl is, her face adorned with that pout that Carmilla loves so much. "Calm down, okay? It's my fault, I'll just go explain everything to him." She tucks a strand of hair behind Laura's ear.

"No," she says quietly, and repeats it for emphasis, "No. I'm not sorry, so he's going to accept it. Being with you may not be the best influence, considering I defied his rules for the first time in my life, but I certainly don't want him holding me back." She smiles up at Carmilla, resting her hands on her shoulder, and then looks down at her fingers while she traces the vampire's backpack strap. Carmilla is waiting with bated breath for her next sentence when a sly smile suddenly forms on her face.

"Now, where did you say you lived?"

 

-

 

Carmilla has been waiting in her car for about 14 minutes now since she left Laura inside the house. She has to find some way to explain to Laura that she doesn't live so close by, not at all, and that she simply used that lame excuse to spend some time with Laura in hopes that she would invite her in, which she had, but this is certainly not how she expected things to go. 

She taps her finger on the steering wheel impatiently and bounces her leg, zoning out until she is snapped out of her thoughts from a small rap on the window. She unlocks the door in a flash (she isn't quite sure why she had locked it in the first place, perhaps to keep safe from Laura's father), and Laura climbs in, with the biggest smile plastered on her face. Carmilla's eyes drop down to her backpack (that is more than stuffed-- how it hasn't burst from the amount of contents in it, Carmilla doesn't know), and Laura excitedly pats it with both of her hands. 

"I actually just walked out!" she exclaims, happily bouncing in her seat, moving the car slightly. 

"Walked out? He didn't say anything?" Carmilla has her eyebrow raised in concern, and Laura laughs out of disbelief. 

"Yes. I walked down the stairs with my things in my hand, and he was sitting on the couch, reading a book, and I guess he didn't notice me so I cleared my throat. He turned around, had this really confused look, and then I explained I was going to be staying with you for a couple of weeks and he's just going to have to deal with it. Then, as I was waiting for his yelling fit," she laughs again, cocking her head to the side, "he just stayed completely silent."

"Hmm." Carmilla nods in understanding. "Sometimes when overprotective parents get backlashed by their child, they realize the trust they had in them all along." She rests her hands on her thighs, glancing at Laura. "It's like they raised you right for you to be able to stand up for yourself in times like this, and he knows you're responsible enough to handle it well." 

"Yeah," Laura agrees, "it's almost as if he knew I'd do this someday, but he also had disappointment in his eyes. I didn't hear it in his voice, but I saw it when I looked at him." She sighs, but the tiny hint of regret and guilt is washed away once she feels cold fingers wrap around hers, and she looks up to see Carmilla's wonderful smile. 

"Don't worry, cupcake. He'll forgive you eventually, just give him a bit more time. He'll understand that you're growing up." Carmilla raises an eyebrow again, blinking a few times from slight confusion. "And the fact that he hasn't come storming out of the house yet from the mere thought that his daughter is sitting in a car with a stranger, whom he just saw straddling her, is quite unbelievable." She flashes Laura another grin. "Compared to 'day-of-the-week bear spray' he equipped you with, of course."

Laura rolls her eyes, squeezing Carmilla's fingers, the vampire's heart swelling from the sudden pressure of her fingers. 

"I'm taking this," she gestures to where they are, referring to the car (and not instead inside the house getting yelled at), "as a sign of victory."

"As you should, sugarcakes."

"Seriously?"

"What?" Carmilla sounds too sincere and Laura gives her a condescending look, her eyebrow raised to match Carmilla's. 

"Don't you pretend you don't notice what you call me, I _know_ you notice- it's not just out of habit that you call me mostly these sugary food and cake petnames," Laura scolds, earning a dark laugh from Carmilla. 

"You sure about that, kitten?"

Laura scrunches her face and lightly hits her shoulder. 

"Come  _on_ , let's just get out of here." 

 

-

 

"So," Laura says, flipping the map around as if she knew how to read it, "where exactly do you live? Approximately?" Laura glances at Carmilla, who remains silent and occasionally checking her speed."You do have a house, don't you?"

"Well," she starts, "let's begin here." She points to a small spot that Laura squints to see in the dark car, and only from the headlights of the racing car beside them does she see the name flash on the map: Saalbach. 

"Saalbach? So you do live in Austria then?" Laura sounds surprised and it isn't hard to see why. Ancient, mysterious, bad-ass vampire could live anywhere in the world, yet apparently, she has a quaint cottage in a small town nestled in between mountains. 

"Yes. Would you like to see, or should I drop you home now?" 

Laura makes a confused face, because Carmilla's tone is harsh, and she wonders if it's from the fact that she's never let anyone in, really. She knows she has to show Carmilla how it looks when someone cares about her, so she lightly rests her hand on her arm. She can feel her tense up, but she doesn't move. 

"I want to see your home," she says, speaking gently, and Carmilla can't help but smile shyly as she hears the smile in Laura's voice. She wants to look, to see Laura's gorgeous smile, she really does, but she made a silent promise to herself that she won't take her eyes off of the road and the speedometer again. 

 

-

 

It's in the second Starbucks they stop in that Laura calls her a pet name for the first time without a mocking tone in her voice. They're in a town called Bischofshofen, and they had admired the mountains and the river from a distance with Carmilla's arm draped around Laura's shoulders, when Carmilla promised her she will take her back to experience the town, and hike up the hills, and take a trip in a boat, and eat in a cafe on the side of the river. Laura knows she will, and she quietly holds her to her words.

Carmilla is walking back to their empty table in Starbucks with the steaming cups in each hand, and she sees Laura reaching over the stand where they dispense napkins, cream, sugar, and the sort. She sets the cups down on either end of the small round table, doing a double take when she sees Laura's shirt riding up as she is reaching for the lids (how short she is, Carmilla can never get over).

"Can you come and grab my wallet from me, baby? I can't hold all of these things with two hands, sadly; it seems my hands are too tiny for this."

Carmilla stops breathing, unable to even heed Laura's request. Time has stopped for her, processing the word over and over again in her brain, letting her mind play with it as she now associates the word with Laura's voice. She doesn't notice her hand slowly lowering into her scalding hot espresso until the bite of the burn a few moments later.

"Fuck!" she yells, jerking her hand back immediately, waving it as she curses again, this time under her breath when a little boy had glanced up from a nearby table. Laura's head snaps back with almost inhuman speed, her eyes widening as she sees Carmilla's dripping hand and her pissed expression. She grabs a handful more of napkins than she already had and rushes over, again with ridiculous speed, leaving all of her things at the dispense station. 

"Don't worry, it's okay, I'm here with napkins!" she says, quickly holding several napkins to either side of Carmilla's hand, soothing her with calming words. "It's okay," she says, smiling, leaning up to kiss Carmilla on the cheek, and then pulling her hand up slightly so she can lean down farther and kiss the warm hand between ten napkins. "It's okay."

To vampires, pain hits in an instant and flashes away just as quickly, so Carmilla can't feel much from the burn anymore, but she knows. Carmilla smiles back at Laura so wide it hurts her cheeks.

 

 " _And Carmilla... you know!"_

And she does.

-

 

The trip is long, approximately two hours and thirty minutes, but Laura doesn't seem to mind. Carmilla notices she keeps shifting around in her seat, though. She keeps changing the radio stations and isn't satisfied with anything so eventually, she plugs her iPod in and Carmilla both regrets and loves it. She instantly regrets the amount of pop tunes that are blaring out of her car's lovely HD speakers, but she loves the way Laura is swaying from side to side with her index fingers pointing, singing a bit quieter than the music (even though Carmilla can hear her perfectly). When the playlist is over, Laura continues shifting and looking impatiently out the window.

"Are we there ye-"

"No."

"Well, are we close?"

Carmilla sighs, attempting to hold back a grin from Laura's impatience and the pout expressed on her face. Carmilla seems to think it's adorable. 

And after a beat, she says, "Yes."

And she smiles.

 

-

 

After many coaxing and whining, Laura finds herself in the driver's seat.

"You better have your license," Carmilla grumbles as she buckles herself in. She wouldn't get hurt without it, but she is not getting fined today. 

"You say that _after_  I get behind the wheel," Laura giggles, turning the key and feeling the engine roar to life. Carmilla watches her every move, even though they are driving around in an empty parking lot. Laura swerves perfectly, parks carefully, and checks her mirrors every few seconds. She is a wonderful driver, and Carmilla finds herself relaxing soon enough. 

"What is your problem?" Laura laughs, one hand on the wheel and one reaching into her pocket. Carmilla's eyes widen, and when she sees Laura pulling out her driver's license, she nods and she sinks back against the seat. 

"Nothing," she retorts all too quickly, gazing out the window as Laura slowly glides back to the highway.

"I won't crash your lovely car," she jokes, but Carmilla purses her lips and ignores the fact that this is her sixth car this year. 

Her tugging seat belt reminded her that she wouldn't even flinch without it, but a simple crash and Laura just might. 

 

-

 

The sign that welcomes them to Saalbach almost makes Laura squeal with happiness, but she stays quiet because Carmilla had dozed off, and Laura wasn't about to wake her and ruin that cuteness. However, when she realizes that she has no idea where to go, she pulls over, taking the keys out, and lightly nudging Carmilla on her shoulder. 

"Carm." Laura's voice is as soft as a feather, but Carmilla's eyes flutter open, and she sits up slightly, stretching as much as she can with her limited amount of space. Laura's hand hasn't left her shoulder. "We're here," she says happily, and Carmilla just stares at her for a few seconds. 

"You're so beautiful."

Laura can't help the blush on her face, and her smile turns into a shy grin without her consent. "Carm," she starts, but she is interrupted by the gentle lips settling on top of hers. 

"You're beautiful," Carmilla mumbles against her lips, moving Laura's lips as she spoke. 

"Carm," she croons, and it isn't a protest this time. 

 

-

 

"This is it," Carmilla announces, pulling into the small driveway of the tiny house settled in the back of a field. A small river separates her backyard from the bottom of the mountains, and right across the house is another row of slopes and, when it's daylight, the snowy tops of the mountains are visible even from miles away. Small fields surrounded by wooden fences in the middle of the town are common in Saalbach, and Carmilla's property is by far Laura's favourite. She has little knickknacks scattered across the grass below the large window beside the front door, such as garden gnomes and little windmills turning slowly from the calm wind, and Laura admires them all when she jumps out of the car. Carmilla walks behind her, reaching to hold her hand and grab her attention. She succeeds, because Laura is immediately by her side, and she rests her head on Carmilla's shoulder.

"It's amazing, Carmilla," she whispers, stroking her arm lightly.

"I know," she whispers back. "This is my second home."

Laura's eyebrows furrow. "Second?"

"Yes." Carmilla licks her lips and looks down to look at Laura's questioning face. 

"What's your first?" she asks slowly, sliding her arm around Carmilla's waist.

"This is it," she smiles, wrapping an arm around Laura to squeeze her against her own body, kissing the top of her forehead. "This is it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had originally planned to keep writing chapters until I ran out of ideas, but someone wrote that they wished I would elaborate on this chapter (they assumed this was the last chapter) and I got to thinking, it sounds like a very good idea so I just might!! I dunno, do you guys want more chapters or for me to just further elaborate on this one and edit it and repost it or just keep going? I can't decide!!


	8. for the victors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I listened to Lights by Wanderhouse while writing this, it's very eerie and sensual to me, so I think it suits it pretty well, and I recommend listening to it while you read  
> Also, it hasn't ended yet, so no worries! I have too many Hollstein feels to stop now

Carmilla shyly leads Laura around her cozy little cottage. She had never brought anyone here before, and Laura's reaction to basically every corner of the house is quite endearing, and reassuring to Carmilla. It had always been hard for her to open up to people and show them parts of her that seem almost impossible, but here she is with Laura, opening the door to her past and granting entrance. When they had first walked in, she had set the keys on a small table beside the front door, flicking the light switch on and noticing Laura's eyes gleam with adoration as the room was illuminated. From the front door, the small living space with a ginormous stone fireplace is directly to the right, while the kitchen is behind the small, wooden staircase, which is right in front of the entrance to the house. There are shelves pushed against the walls that are filled with ancient-looking books and souvenirs and clocks and a few globes, and Laura immediately knows that this is the biggest hoard collection she's ever seen in person. 

Carmilla walks across the rectangular rug that is spread across the hallway leading to the kitchen, with Laura hot on her heels. She listens intently as Carmilla explains every item Laura inquires about, and since her feet feel the soft knitted carpet (that Carmilla says was hand woven), she listens to the vampire talk about it. They slowly make their way around the small home with Laura finding new things to point out, and Carmilla speaking of the memories associated to the specific item. She is patient with her; she realizes the curiosity the human must have for her past and she doesn't have any trouble  explaining the pasts of the objects Laura finds interest in. 

Laura finds out that the rug in the hallway was made almost a hundred years ago, in Greece. A pair of binoculars Laura picks up from one of the many shelves is from the 1930's, but Carmilla tells her she found it in an antique shop a few years ago in Hungary. She has retro signs from the late 40's, peace and protest signs from the marches she took part in in the 60's, compasses engraved with names that are no longer remembered in this time period, gold pocket watches that could pay off Laura's entire college education (and perhaps more), paintings from forgotten European artists, medallions, badges, magnifying glasses, and many more knickknacks and antiques that litter the mahogany shelves. There are so many that Laura can't focus on all of them, and she's sure she misses so many that are hiding on the top of the shelves that she can't reach. She's about to ask Carmilla for a ladder, or even a boost, but Carmilla softly tugs her shirt along into the kitchen. 

She opens her cupboards and sighs, looking over at Laura to give her an apologetic gaze.

"What?" Laura asks, a smile tugging on her lips as she notices Carmilla shyly looking away as she retrieves champagne glasses from her glass cupboards. The soft spotlights above the cabinets are the only source of light in the kitchen, and it reflects off of Laura's skin, creating a golden glow on her cheeks that makes Carmilla blush so much she can't bear to even look the other girl in the eyes. 

"I don't seem to have any food for actual humans," she says playfully, even though her eyes seem to be saying sorry. 

"Oh, that's- wait, you don't expect me to drink _blood_ , do you?" Laura can't seem to mask her horror as she focuses heavily on the glasses in Carmilla's hands. The vampire lets out a deep laugh that seems to echo throughout the tiny house, and Laura can't help but shudder slightly from the way Carmilla's laugh sounds in her ears. 

"Champagne for the victors," Carmilla assures her with a wicked smile, placing them on the marble counter and opening the fridge for the alcohol. She takes her time finding it, leaning down farther to make sure her shirt falls with her movement, teasing her like Laura obliviously had in the Starbucks only a few hours ago. It doesn't take long for Laura to notice the sudden pale skin peeking through Carmilla's dark clothing, and her eyes slowly analyze every inch of her exposed skin, forgetting to breathe for a few split seconds. She finds her feet moving on their own accord, and she reaches forward with shaking fingers to slowly graze Carmilla's body. Carmilla freezes, and the sudden touch sends shivers rippling down her spine, and Laura feels goosebumps underneath her fingertips. Carmilla straightens up, releasing the fridge door to let it snap shut, a sound that seems like an explosion in this silence. She hands Laura the bottle, gazing at her with both desperation and adoration. Laura isn't sure which emotion drips off of her dominantly, but she is overwhelmed with both almost instantly.

Carmilla steps forward and their faces are an inch apart.

"Your house is amazing," Laura whispers, desperately trying to find something, _anything_ , to say in this moment, and she holds her breath nervously in anticipation for Carmilla's response. The tension is finally snapping as they get their release, especially since earlier tonight they had been so close, only to be interrupted again. But not this time; there is no one here to break them apart from each other, and even if they were, Laura is sure she would have exploded and sent them away. 

"Thank you," she whispers back, and Laura can feel her breath against her nose when she speaks. Suddenly, she feels cold fingers sliding around her waist, daringly slipping underneath her shirt a tiny bit, but enough to make Laura gasp at the contact. The next few seconds happen in slow motion, as if someone wanted to preserve these moments and pushed the slow motion button on a remote. Carmilla reaches up to hold her face in her hands, her lips grazing Laura's, and Laura leans up to the touch, closing her eyes slowly; the last thing in her vision is Carmilla fluttering her eyes as she hovers over her. Carmilla's holding her face so affectionately that Laura thinks she might be losing feeling in her feet; the butterflies in her stomach seem to affect her legs the most, and her knees are trembling without her permission. 

Laura releases the breath she has been holding when the back of her head is being pulled towards the girl she currently can't see, but sense, instead. Damn, does she sense her. She can feel the energy pulsating off of Carmilla, and the fact that she  _knows_ that Carmilla is right there, touching her, invading her personal space and stealing her air, is intoxicating. Finally, as Carmilla realizes that Laura is paralyzed, she presses her lips gently against hers, and the kiss is sickeningly sweet. Laura thanks the heavens that Carmilla makes the move when she knows that she wouldn't be able to at all. Laura tastes exactly like the sugar she consumes, and to Carmilla, Laura quenches her thirst almost as much as blood does. She wants more, so much more, and as Carmilla begins to part her lips, Laura slips her tongue almost hesitantly between the vampire's fangs.  _  
_

The kiss turns passionate, and their lips crash together in perfect harmony. They seem to be communicating through body language, because they move at the same time; Laura reaches behind her to rest the champagne on the counter behind her, and she grips the marble as Carmilla pushes against her.

_Chest to chest._

Laura can practically hear Carmilla's velvety voice as she recalls the night the vampire spoke those words and they had danced together. Not much different than what they're doing now, even though now she feels her head spinning out of control compared to that night in their tiny dorm. At the back of her mind, Laura is silently thankful her hand had subconsciously grabbed the counter because she knows she would have fallen right over. Her mind, however, is preoccupied with Carmilla's tongue sliding across the roof of her mouth, and the second she twirls her tongue around Laura's, her knees buckle. She reaches up to grab anything in front of her to hold onto, because the counter behind her is proving to be inefficient, and she accidentally grips the back of Carmilla's hair. Carmilla whimpers loudly into her mouth, and Laura immediately breaks off the heavy kiss, their lips making a smooching noise as Laura suddenly retracts without warning. Carmilla's eyes are snapped open from the discontinuation of the deep kiss, and Laura flings her hands to Carmilla's arms, stroking them as she begins stammering. 

"Oh my goodness, did I hurt you? I didn't mean to hurt you- are you okay? I'm so sorry, I-"

"Laura." Carmilla smiles at her, and Laura gulps from the way the vampire is looking at her. If the night that Carmilla had walked into the dorm holding champagne for the first time made Laura think she was going to eat her simply from the way she had been staring at her, it's nothing compared to the look Carmilla's giving her now. Her eyes are glazed over, shimmering from the lights sparkling above the cupboards. Laura swears she sees stars in them, as if Carmilla had gazed up at the sky so often in her long life that she managed to capture them in her eyes.

"Don't stop," she whispers, squeezing Laura against her body so much so that the front of their bodies are merged together, with Carmilla standing in between Laura's legs as the tiny girl attempts to stay upright by spreading her feet apart. 

Laura isn't so oblivious anymore; she can recognize the seduction eyes now, especially when they are just centimeters away from her own. She slowly reaches behind Carmilla, stroking the back of her head now as she softly pushes her head towards her to reseal the broken kiss. Their lips reattach, Carmilla immediately wrapping her arms around Laura as the kiss deepens quickly, and then opening her mouth when Laura does so, as well. They are synchronized, in perfect harmony as their lips move in time together. Tongues meet once again, and Laura's legs almost give out from the sensation of a soft, wet tongue gently sliding against hers. She is putty in Carmilla's arms, and she lets herself melt into her once her tongue flicks along the roof of Carmilla's mouth. Carmilla pulls back gently, but only to tug Laura's lip with careful teeth as she just barely leans back (to Laura, however, it feels like she's already too far away). 

Laura is gone. Gone, gone, gone. She can't control the low moan that slips out between her lips, and she digs her nails into the back of Carmilla's hair, gripping so hard she pulls her head back slightly. Carmilla  _growls,_ and it's her turn to sink her fingernails into Laura, eliciting another, deeper moan from Laura as she does so. She arches her back as Carmilla digs so deep, she's sure there will be scars developing in the morning. Carmilla leans forward, and Laura feels the excitement pour over her entire body. She can feel her heart sinking when the excitement drips off of her, just as quickly as it washed over her, as she realizes Carmilla leans too far from her mouth, and the vampire's lips are instead lightly skimming her ear. 

"There's that moan I wanted." The smirk practically oozes off of her words. She bites her earlobe, Laura's eyes rolling so far back she can't see a thing even though her eyes are open. Carmilla can't see her facial expression, so she takes this as an opportunity to show her emotions. She takes her bottom lip between her teeth, her eyes barely open as she breathes in Carmilla's lingering, heavy scent. Carmilla bites once more, pulling it slightly with her before she releases it to face Laura. 

"You only wanted one?" Laura dares to ask, her voice thick with want, deeper than usual. The sound causes that eyebrow to raise again, a sight that creates a familiar feeling inside of Laura that she always gets when Carmilla is this close to her. 

"Oh no, the first one always leads to more, cupcake," Carmilla drawls, running a finger along Laura's jaw, then kissing along the path that she just touched. Her kisses start traveling lower, down to Laura's neck, and then to the hollow base of her throat to bite it softly. Laura grits her teeth together in order to prove Carmilla wrong. But then, she starts sucking. She sucks slowly, but it isn't long until she practically indulges in Laura, harder and with much more force. Laura is curling her toes and gripping Carmilla's hair again from the act. Her other hand flies up to scratch at Carmilla's back, and when she bites her neck again in the exact same spot, Laura whimpers. 

" _Carm_ ," she whines, and Carmilla is nowhere near satisfied.  

"That is  _not_ a moan, creampuff." Her voice is light and playful, but there is a hint of mischievousness tucked into it, as well, and Laura flushes when she realizes Carmilla is right. She gathers all of the strength inside of her tiny body to be able to speak without a tremble in her voice. 

"Make me moan, then." 

Carmilla pries herself from Laura's neck to stare into the girl's starry eyes, her pupils blown wide with desire. Carmilla knows her eyes must mirror Laura's, because Laura is gazing at her with a face that expresses both hunger and passion as she stares into the vampire's eyes, as well. Carmilla's hands drop down to Laura's, and she slowly leads her upstairs. They take their time, slowly and gently, preserving this moment for as long as they possibly can.

The staircase leads straight to her room, and there is no door, so Laura assumes Carmilla's bathroom is connected to her bedroom. She finds herself to be correct when Carmilla switches the light on to search for her candles and her lighter. Laura examines the bedroom, her eyes darting from the double bed, to the large window that faces the river running along the base of the mountain behind Carmilla's house. The bed is parallel with the window, and facing the entrance to the room. Her room is quite empty, aside from the telescope perched in front of the window and the dark dresser directly across from the bed. The bathroom door is on the wall adjacent to the top of the staircase. 

Carmilla is already finished lighting all of the candles when Laura focuses back on her, her hands loosely behind her back as she stands in the middle of the romantically illuminated room. Carmilla turns to the waiting girl, and Laura basically  _runs_  into her arms, but they both lose their balance and fall back onto Carmilla's sinking sheets. Their lips find each other again, and Laura doesn't know how she once managed to be in the same room as Carmilla and _not_  kiss her. Tongue fight for dominance as Laura's body merges with the vampire's. Carmilla is gentle, so gentle, just like she always had been, and if Laura ever imagined their bodies touching like this in her mind, it wouldn't have been any different than the reality. Carmilla had never given Laura a reason to assume she is anything but gentle, especially considering the way she had always touched her with kind hands and feather-light fingers. 

It's Laura's turn to straddle Carmilla, and she lifts her shirt over her head slowly, feeling Carmilla's eyes wander over her body. The candlelight dances on Laura's exposed skin, and her eyes are lit up with flames as she stares at Carmilla, waiting for her move. Carmilla retaliates by sitting up to peel off her loose shirt as well, resting her warm fingers on Laura's lower back, slipping her index fingers in her belt loops and tugging on them. Laura looks down at her pressing fingers, and her breaths come out shaky. 

"Do you..." Laura trails off, biting her lip and letting out a laugh as her face turns a dark red colour. "Umm, do you want to take them off?"

Carmilla leans in so close, their noses almost touching as she smiles genuinely, a sight that Laura loves so much that her heart practically pounds out of its constraints in her rib cage. 

"Would you like me to?" Carmilla asks softly, rubbing her thumbs smoothly against Laura's hips. Shivering, Laura nods slowly, her hands shaking as she softly rests them on Carmilla's shoulders. Carmilla drops her hands to the button on Laura's high-waisted jeans, popping it out of the hole and zipping them down, taking her sweet time as Laura bites her lip and lulls her head back. Her chest rises in deep, quiet breaths as Carmilla looks up to kiss her stomach with her tender, affectionate lips. 

As the scary, bad-ass vampire kisses her delicate skin, her eyelashes brush Laura's abdomen, all too aware of the nimble hands against her back. She quietly marvels in the fact that Laura is here, that she is unwrapping and unlocking herself right in front of her, metaphorically handing the key to Carmilla. She knows that Laura trusts her emotionally, and Carmilla wants to show her that she can trust her physically, as well. She can keep her safe in her strong arms, and Carmilla will do exactly that, for as long as Laura likes. 

She watches the reflection of the candlelight in Laura's eyes, watches the dancing of the flames glowing dimly against her smooth skin, absorbing the elegance that Laura illustrates even when she is breathing heavily on top of her. They both take their precious time, indulging in the presence of one another, their feelings laid out into the open finally, after holding them back for so long (too long, they both think). 

Carmilla slips her hands into the sides of Laura's pants, running her hands over her skin underneath her underwear, biting on her stomach weakly, and Laura's eyelashes flicker as she slips into a delirious entrancement, her mind running wild during this experience.

 

She lets go, and dives right in- into the inferno, into Carmilla.


	9. the morning after

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I edited it and fixed the ending! I hope it's readable :)

Laura is treated to the sound of the rain quietly tapping against the window, and she decides that it's the perfect way to wake up after a long night that only feels like a dream. The calming rush of the river outside almost lulls Laura to sleep once more, but with a quick flutter of her eyes, she begins to take in her surroundings. She looks around a bit dazed, and finally, she realizes she feels a soft thing touching her underneath the covers. Lifting the sheets, she peeks in and sees an arm draped across her waist lazily, and Laura gasps.

Oh God. 

She lifts up the rest of the covers and is reminded of who it's attached to; the lovely girl she couldn't get enough of last night. She's sleeping soundly underneath the sheets and her head is pressed to the side of Laura's thigh. Laura purses her lips, and slowly reaches down to run her fingers through Carmilla's soft, but messy, curls. After a few minutes, and Laura realizes that Carmilla isn't even stirring, she begins to twirl her hair around her fingers and play with it. 

She soon falls back asleep while repeating this pattern of gently running and twirling Carmilla's hair between her fingers with the distant sound of water outside. 

 

-

 

A few hours later, and Laura wakes up just as refreshed, except in a different position. Her pillow is much more comfier, and she immediately wishes it had been this soft last night. It's so warm and cuddly, and it's... moving. Her pillow is moving. Laura jerks her head up, and blushes when she sees that she's face to face with Carmilla's crotch. Well, that explains the warmth. And the comfort. She suddenly becomes aware of the hand tangled in her own hair, and strains her neck to look up at Carmilla. Her eyes are closed, but Laura knows that she's awake, so she pushes herself up, relying solely on her upper body strength (and okay, maybe the bed, too), and kisses Carmilla, slightly off target, but gentle as always. When she leans back, she's smiling, and so is Carmilla. 

"Morning, sundance," she drawls, opening her eyes ever so slowly while her lip is caught between her teeth a tiny bit. 

"Good morning... moondance," Laura replies, and when Carmilla looks at her with the most confused look she's ever mustered, Laura can't help but laugh loudly in her face. Carmilla's expression disappears as quickly as it came, and before she knows it, she's smiling again and finds herself leaning in to kiss the currently giggling girl hovering over her. The kiss is broken by smiles and laughter and they both laugh at each other's inability to hold the kiss, but laugh even harder when they keep trying to mend it. They don't even know why they're laughing so hard for so long; perhaps it's the new-found closeness between them, or the fact that they are just so damn happy together, in the silky bed sheets entangled in each other. Laura's legs are laying on top of Carmilla's, and her arms are the only part of her body holding her up, but she manages to ignore the trembling of her forearms while they laugh like little children against each other's lips in Carmilla's sun-kissed bedroom. 

 

-

 

Carmilla eventually drags herself out of the warm, cozy bed, even though Laura's greedy kisses seem to deter her slightly. Laura kisses her while she's inching off the bed, and they're both smiling like teenagers in love for the very first time. 

"Laura, come on," Carmilla mumbles against her lips, and Laura just laughs maniacally, and pulls her in before she can finally pull away. Carmilla's feet are planted on the ground, but she's slowly leaning on her hands, closer to Laura. They kiss for minutes that seem like hours, and then Carmilla is laughing and Laura shivers, biting her lip as she pulls away. When she lets go of Carmilla's bottom lip, Laura bites her own, and the vampire is mesmerized by her teeth poking out from in between her lips. She pulls away successfully, however, and smiling, she walks over to her dresser and sifts through it to find a warm sweater. She throws it towards Laura, and she giggles as she unfolds it to hold it in front of her. 

"Is this for me?" she asks, slipping it on anyway because it looks ridiculously warm and it feels like it's hand woven. 

"Yes," Carmilla says, a small laugh in her reply when she turns around and sees Laura wearing it. She watches Laura play with the material and squeezing it against her, hugging herself. "Adorable." Carmilla stalks back to the bed, forgetting about her own sweater in her hand as she crawls on the bed to kiss the small woman in the too-large sweater. Carmilla laughs as she glances down mid-kiss to see that the sweater covers Laura's upper thighs and that she looks like she's being eaten by the thing. 

"Shut up," Laura rolls her eyes playfully when she notices a smirk being drawn on Carmilla's face. She holds her cheek and kisses her again and again and again.

 

-

 

Carmilla races down the stairs and across the short and cluttered hallway with Laura clinging onto her for dear life, her arms around her neck and her legs wrapped around Carmilla's waist. She plops her down on the couch, hovering over her and caging her in between her arms as she kisses her. Laura's arms tighten around Carmilla's neck, and she pulls her on top of her until their bodies are merged together, entangled in a heap of limbs and splayed clothing and messy hair. 

"We really should go to eat something," Carmilla murmurs against Laura's neck when she eventually drags her kisses down Laura's face and jaw. 

"Mmm." Laura is only half paying attention, mostly focused on Carmilla's back muscles as she runs her hands up and down rhythmically underneath her shirt. 

"Are you listening?" Carmilla bites her neck with her front teeth, no fangs, and suddenly Laura snaps out of it. Her legs squeeze Carmilla in between them, rubbing Carmilla against her and she is instantly reminded of the bite from last night. The memory is so fresh and clear, it almost feels as if it's happening all over again. "Love?"

There it is, the nickname that makes Laura go weak in the knees (it only keeps growing bigger, that list of Laura's weaknesses that affect her legs). 

"Sorry, I was just, I don't know, thinking."

Carmilla smirks, because she knows exactly what's running through the girl's mind. She sucks at the spot where she had just lightly bitten, not too far from the bite mark created just last night. Laura groans, sinking her nails into Carmilla's back, the vampire's smirk disappearing and she immediately stiffens from the nails digging into almost-faded scars. They both realize at the exact same moment, that that may have not been the best idea. Laura can still feel the cuts from last night, barely there, a hint of the pain that Carmilla had felt from that moment, and she winces.

"I'm so sorry," she blurts, and Carmilla simply shakes her head. 

"Don't be, I don't mind the pain," she says, the seduction eyes coming out to play as she smirks again, kissing Laura's newly formed hickey. 

Laura sucks in a breath and smooths her hands over the fresh moon shaped cuts in Carmilla's back. She swears she hears a soft moan as she does so, but she isn't quite sure because then Carmilla's at her neck once more, giving her full, undivided attention to it. 

 

-

 

Hands are encircling Carmilla's waist from behind, wrapping themselves around her as she sinks into the warm body approaching her. She finishes flipping the egg on the stove, and then half turns to meet the lips now pressing firmly against her bare shoulder. 

"Laura," Carmilla hums, almost melodically, to a girl embracing her from behind who is softly vibrating through her entire body as she laughs against her back. " _Laura_ ," Carmilla presses, but there's no urgency in her voice, just a simple word that means so much to the smaller girl currently acting as the big spoon. Whenever Carmilla decides (or accidentally lets the name slip out of her mouth uncontrollably) to say her name, it sounds like music to Laura's ears.

"Yes, love?"

That nickname seems to do it for the both of them. 

It takes several seconds for Carmilla to fully immerse herself into the conversation again, after that little, tiny nickname, and she is still not entirely paying attention to the words that her brain decides to communicate orally. To her, it sounds like her brain transformed the words that Carmilla tried so hard to rearrange into a sentence, mashing them together and stirring them together violently, like a blender.

"Would you like bacon with a... umm... Breakfast?"

Laura can't help but let out a laugh that reminds Carmilla of bubbles rising up to the surface of a body of water. It's bouncy and spirited and high pitched, simply so pure and child-like, that Carmilla is almost stunned from the sparkling, absolutely elated giggle that is rippling through Laura's entire spirit. 

Carmilla ducks her head in embarrassment from her incoherent sentence, mumbling something about not paying attention, and then Laura's lips are just there again, kissing the back of her neck, her jaw, her cheekbone, her nose, and then her pouting lips. Laura laughs at the adorable, ancient vampire cowering in her arms who just so happens to be an expert in literature, but apparently can't form grammatically correct phrases when she's being showered with nicknames that mirror weaknesses. 

 

-

 

"I thought vampires healed instantly."

Carmilla looks up from the coffee machine at Laura's curious expression on the other side of the counter. Her hands are spread out on the marble, and Carmilla quirks her eyebrow at the girl sliding her hands across the cool stone, leaning forward ever so slowly. 

"I thought you didn't like Twilight," Carmilla quips, pulling out the mug from under the nozzle and walking around the counter to hand it to Laura. She thanks her, and sips slowly, recoiling when the beverage burns her tongue. 

"I don't," Laura says quite defensively, setting the cup down lightly. "But I'm just wondering how your healing process works."

"Hmm." Carmilla doesn't sound convinced, but she shrugs, running her finger along the edge of the counter. "Not instantly. Just much quicker."

Laura just nods, gently turning her cup back and forth to swirl the coffee inside of it.

"I'll be fine," Carmilla says with a smile, looking at Laura until she returns the stare. She does, and she can't stop smiling when Carmilla points to the hickeys scattered on her neck. "I'll miss these most of all," she adds with a smirk, tapping one of the bruises slowly. 

 

-

 

She can only gaze at the flowing river beneath Carmilla's balcony, the cup in her hand quickly cooling down. She hears the light footsteps on the staircase, and smiles when she hears the soft pads directly behind her. 

"Mesmerizing, isn't it?" Carmilla asks, repeating Laura's earlier action of embracing her from behind, her chest attaching to her back and her arms settling on Laura's. Carmilla's hands rest on Laura's hands that are wrapped around the mug of cold coffee, and they rock back and forth slowly. Laura sighs happily in a response to Carmilla's question, her eyes following the steady stream of water as it cascades around smooth rocks. The water is a deep blue with strokes of white among it. It reminds Laura of the Earth's colours that she's seen from pictures taken with satellites. The stream is fascinating to watch, and it's so calming that it makes Laura relaxes against Carmilla, her eyes drooping slightly. 

"I can just fall asleep right now," Laura claims, leaning her head back to use the crook of Carmilla's neck as a pillow. The vampire unconsciously takes a small fascination with Laura's neck, lifting a hand to brush some strands of her hair aside to take in the lovely view of her pale neck and the veins she can clearly see through her skin. 

"Let's fall asleep then," Carmilla mumbles, pressing a sweet kiss just under Laura's jaw. 

To fall asleep with Carmilla again, and melt in her arms while she completely lowers all of her defenses is truly a fantastic idea,  _phenomenal_  even. To lay with her, lacing their fingers together like they had last night, and simply hold each other while listening to each other breathe is the one of the very few things in this world that could relax Laura the most, and make her feel the happiest she has ever been. She still thinks about the unspoken and unanswered questions she has for Carmilla, but she holds them in her memory and tucks it away for later, when they aren't draped over each other like curtains.

Laura loves their closeness now, though-- their first kiss to their last kiss only a mere few seconds ago, their first time making love, their first and last everything-- and she would give anything to remain this way with Carmilla, even if it means the questions inside of her get burned and the ashes get blown away. 

But if she naps with Carmilla now, in the late hours of the morning, she will be exhausted by the time they wake up. It most likely wouldn't affect Carmilla, seeing as she's indifferent to the amount of sleep she gets, but Laura knows the feeling of over sleeping all too well. The temptation to crawl back into bed with Carmilla is strong, but she wants to see the town, to see the village where Carmilla retreats to when school isn't in session. 

"No, I love the view," Laura finally answers, her mind elsewhere as her eyes dance in waving motions as she watches the stream. Carmilla hums in agreement, even though her eyes are now looking up and fixated on Laura's glossy lips while her head hangs over her neck. Carmilla can't decide where to kiss the lovely girl, because all parts of her drive her senses wild, but she settles on her exposed neck.

When Carmilla leans down once more to tenderly suck a healing hickey, Laura exhales deeply, her face heating up immensely as she raises a hand to caress the back of Carmilla's head. Her half-lidded eyes flutter from the light suction on a sensitive spot, until they close completely, despite the wonderful sight of the rushing creek outside. 

 

 

 


	10. with smiles and laughter

Saalbach is beautiful. The town is perched in between two tall rows of mountains, protecting the beautiful, cozy village. There are ski lifts that transport people to each side of the mountains, so you can view the town from both perspectives. Carmilla and Laura ride the lift that glides up the mountain directly across from Carmilla's cottage. Laura leans against Carmilla, her head nestled in the crook of her neck. The ride is long, but considering the size of the mountain, it's actually quite tolerable. And besides, Laura doesn't mind sitting so close to Carmilla with a gorgeous view all around them-- doesn't mind one bit. 

Carmilla's never been on the mountains here either, so it's a mutual feeling-- the one of being engrossed in gorgeous scenery with someone even more gorgeous beside them. Her arm is resting on Laura's shoulders, and her fingers rub light circles on Laura's arm. The lift comes to an abrupt stop in the midst of the mountain, and they run off, hand in hand. Carmilla flashes a quick wave to the person operating the lift, and they run ahead to the rolling hills above them. There are some fences placed horizontally on random parts of the mountain, all quite parallel to one another, and Carmilla boosts Laura over one once she has jumped the wooden bars. It isn't a high of a jump, but Laura is taking her time adjusting her footing on a wooden piece, so Carmilla grabs hold of both of her hands to help balance her. She steps on the higher bar, then leaps into Carmilla's arms. They are laughing the entire time, and Laura's sure their voices can be heard echoing throughout the village. 

 

-

 

They sit slightly farther up the hill from the ski lift they had ridden on, basking in the view of the strip of town below them, and the scattered mountains around it. Their arms are wrapped around each other, and Laura uses the excuse of the cold mountain air (but who is she kidding?) to keep Carmilla extra close to her. Carmilla's fingers don't leave Laura's skin, tracing light patterns as they slide all over her hip. 

"This is beautiful," Laura sighs happily, nestling her head into Carmilla's neck as best she can and fiddles with the end of Carmilla's shirt. Carmilla smiles, and just nods, her jaw brushing Laura's hair as she does so. As tempting as the view is, Carmilla just glances down too often to even enjoy it, and finds herself secretly watching Laura play with the hem of her shirt. 

 

-

 

They're wandering around in the village, window shopping while admiring the cobblestone streets and the Austrian style of the buildings. Laura pulls on Carmilla's hand to direct her to a display in a window that is filled with wooden cabin play sets with little remote control trains rushing around them on miniature tracks. She excitedly points to the train as it emits a gust of smoke from its smokestack. Carmilla's eyes follow Laura's finger as she slides it across the glass. After a few minutes of gaping, Laura realizes she's been fascinated for a bit too long. She shyly turns to Carmilla.

"Sorry," she says with a goofy smile, "it's been a long time since I've seen one of those."

Carmilla just wraps her arm around her maybe-girlfriend, squeezing her against her own side. 

"Don't worry, cutie," she says quietly, kissing Laura's temple. Her lips linger at that sensitive spot for a while as Carmilla thinks that she wants Laura to hold onto her childhood for as long as she possibly can. They watch the train circle around the cabins for what seems like forever. 

 

-

 

Carmilla really doesn't think Laura should have another coffee, really she doesn't, because of the way she's practically bouncing off of the walls from just one. Laura assures her it's how she always acts when she's excited, and Carmilla rolls her eyes playfully, but sits down at a table anyway. She's shrugging off her leather jacket when Laura comes excitedly walking back to their table, handing her a coffee. 

"So, how often do you come back here?" Laura asks, sitting across from her. 

"To Saalbach?" Carmilla pours some cream into her coffee. Laura just smiles and nods because  _wow her German accent is wonderful_. "Well, whenever I can. When I wasn't needed at Silas, I would come here, or I would go back to Paris, or even New York. I own property in a lot of different cities," she says with a wave of her hand, as if to dismiss it. 

"New York? Paris? They're all pretty big cities," Laura notes, and Carmilla nods, "so why a small town like Saalbach?" 

"Well," Carmilla says, sipping her coffee, "I once drove through it, and fell in love with the architecture, the mountains, and the safety I felt here. It was a place of tranquility for me, in a world with very little of it." She puts down her drink on the table, staring at Laura. 

"And it still is?" 

"You could say that."

Laura can't stop smiling like an idiot when she sees Carmilla grin at her. She doesn't think it has anything to do with the fact that she's already gulping down her second coffee within only a couple of hours. 

 

-

 

They are walking along the path between the forest and the stream (the one that runs behind a row of small hotels and houses, including Carmilla's). It's getting a bit dark out, but the sun's rays are still apparent in the horizon. It won't be long before it sets altogether, but people in the town are still out and about, so they aren't worried about getting caught in the dark. On the long, winding path, there are people rollerblading, hiking, and biking by, and the amount of times Carmilla has to whisk Laura away from the people gliding by on wheels is ridiculous. Laura keeps rambling on about her favorite parts of the green forest beside them, and she keeps subconsciously shifting towards the middle of the path. Carmilla decides she just shouldn't take her arm away from Laura's waist, and to be honest, she doesn't mind pulling her closer to her when a biker comes threateningly close. 

"... And the pine trees are so green, I've never seen trees so vibrant, if that even makes sense," she laughs, her face scrunching like the way it does whenever she's unsure of something. Carmilla just listens, nodding and occasionally laughing at something Laura says. She's mostly just paying attention to the way Laura's voice sounds when she's excited rather than the words behind it. 

"Makes sense," Carmilla eventually mumbles after a few seconds of silence, linking her arm through Laura's. Laura slows her walk, looking up at Carmilla. She gets the hint and they stop altogether, staring in each other's eyes. Laura's eyes flit down to Carmilla's lips, and she finds herself leaning in to kiss her. Carmilla leans the rest of the way, their lips connecting perfectly. Laura's tongue gently smooths over Carmilla's bottom lip, and the vampire's immediate reaction is to open her mouth for Laura to gain access to. Laura slips her tongue into her mouth and deepens the kiss, while Carmilla groans quietly from the contact. She realizes mid-kiss that she has missed Laura's lips in the hour that they haven't kissed. Laura pulls away a bit, just so their lips are still pressed up against each other. 

"God, I don't want this to stop," Carmilla whispers against her lips. 

"It doesn't have to," she replied, barely leaning back from Carmilla to speak. 

"What--"

"Carm, I know we're different. I know that," Laura rambles, gripping onto Carmilla's shoulders like she's holding on for dear life, pulling back a bit so she can look her in the eyes. "But, I also know we have this unspeakable connection. I felt it almost instantly when you walked into that dorm room," she laughs, her voice a bit watery and shaky. "I don't want us to stop."

"Me neither," Carmilla mumbles, her voice just above a whisper now. 

"And, and I don't want to be without you. I want you," she breathes. She inhales deeply, preparing herself. Carmilla watches her with an anticipation that practically has her jumping up and down. Her hands are holding onto Laura's jacket with the same desperation as Laura's on her own. Their eyes are searching the others', waiting for the words, the reaction. Carmilla is hanging onto the last word she's spoken, her eyes wide when Laura parts her lips to speak. 

"Carmilla, will you be my girlfriend?" she finally blurts, and Carmilla laughs because she looks so damn nervous, and because yes, yes she definitely, absolutely, positively does. She laughs with tears in her eyes and just pulls Laura in for the deepest kiss she can muster while laughing against her lips. It's passionate, everything about them screams passion, and their lips collide in a beautiful, messy way.  

 

-

 

It isn't until later that night, when they're laying next to each other in Carmilla's bed with their hands linked and propped up on elbows, that Laura finally brings up the questions that have been eating at her. 

"Where did you go for the week you were gone?" 

"What?" Carmilla sits up on her forearm. Her thumb stops stroking Laura's hand. Laura sighs.

"The last week in our dorm. You left, and I didn't know why."

Carmilla laughs and Laura looks offended.

"No, you're not allowed to laugh, it really upset me."

Carmilla shoots her a look that suggests she's saying sorry, but silently. Laura replies with a look that indicates forgiveness and concern, and Carmilla starts to explain her reason of absence for the week that seems to worry Laura senseless. 

"Well, and you're going to laugh, but I went..." She can't say home. Not now-- not anymore. But now Laura is giving her this loving look and her eyes are assuring her to continue, so she gulps hard and finishes her short story. "I went back to my cabin."

Laura looks confused, and Carmilla chooses to keep speaking.

"I had a place to myself just outside of Paris. I would always return to it when my mother didn't need me. And I went to go prepare it for my return, just in case I had a... visitor."

She falters now, and Laura's lips start to curl into a smile as she pieces this puzzle together in her mind. Carmilla looks at her anxiously, pursing her lips together.

"Okay, so I was getting it ready in case you wanted to come with me," she admits, in a flair that suggests she is not nervous at all, when really, she's terrified of what Laura might say now. But to her dismay, Laura can see right through her, despite her calm voice and the smirk spreading across her face.

"You did? So why didn't you ask me? I would've said yes," she says, smiling while she lifts up their entwined hands to kiss Carmilla's. 

"I-I know you-- Wait, you would have?" Carmilla's smirk dissipates within seconds. 

Laura scoffs dramatically and playfully, because of course she would have. And of course Carmilla doesn't know that. 

"Of course I would have," Laura says, repeating her thoughts. Carmilla smiles that smile, the one Laura loves, the one that she only gives Laura the pleasure of seeing, in rare, beautiful moments. "I love your smile," she suddenly whispers, her cheeks reddening while clutching Carmilla's hand to her chest. 

"Well, I-" 

Carmilla can't finish her sentence. She just shuts up, and focuses on the ceiling, and doesn't think about Laura, or her sweet words, and kind smile, and these feelings she's starting to create inside of her, and--

"Carm?"

Her intruding thoughts are interrupted by Laura, who is starting to become a little worried from Carmilla's sudden silence. 

"Sorry, it's just," and she offers a weak smile as she turns to Laura again, mustering all of the courage she has in her body and applying it, "It's just that I was really nervous about it. I didn't know what you would have said to a weekend away with...  _me._ " 

"You?"Laura squints her eyes. "Why do you say it like that?"

"Like what? I'm a godforsaken  _vampire,_ Laura."

"I know."

That's it. No "I know,  _but it doesn't even seem like it._ " Or, "I know, _but in my eyes you are just like another human being capable of love_ ," or some other excuse that evades the actual information at hand. Just that she knows. And it immediately calms Carmilla. It reassures her that not only is she a vampire that can indeed love and be loved, but that she is _a vampire, and it doesn't even matter to Laura._  

And even if Carmilla knows that Laura knows, she still wants to hear it. So she asks: "You know?"

Laura giggles, squeezing Carmilla's hand. 

"Of course I know."

"No, I mean-- just,  _'you know'?_ Nothing else? No"-- and she raises her voice for her imitation of Laura, --"' _I know you're a vampire, but you're no flesh devouring monster to me!'"_   

Laura shakes her head, an understanding expression painted across her face. 

"No. I know who you are, and I'm not changing the facts. You're a vampire, and I'm here with you, instead of at home with my father. You're a vampire, and I trust you, and I don't mind that you have fangs, or that you drink blood. There's no need to ignore those parts of you. And how can I? You don't ignore the parts about me that I think deem me undesirable." She gives Carmilla an accusing look. "But the hair in the shower drain and the never ending pile of unwashed dishes, now those parts I can't ignore."

Carmilla stares at her, and there's a few seconds of silence between them as they stare deeply into each other's eyes, before Carmilla bursts out laughing.

"What are you--" Laura starts, but is cut off by Carmilla's loud laughter. 

"Oh, creampuff, it is so you to bring that up in a moment of solemnity."

She launches herself with the forearm that had been bearing her entire weight, and now lays over top of Laura. Carmilla's hands are on either side of Laura's head, holding herself up a few inches from Laura's face. 

"But you accept me," Carmilla whispers, her tongue tracing the now visible fang peeking out from the corner of her lips. 

"Of course I do, Carm," Laura murmurs, her free hand coming to rest on the back of Carmilla's neck to encourage her to lean in. Carmilla does so, and she kisses the end of Laura's nose, earning a small noise of protest from the shorter girl, but eliciting a grin from the vampire. "And I would have loved to go with you to your cabin."

Carmilla recoils, leaning back to straddle Laura, running her free hand through her hair. Laura very nearly faints from the sight of her  _girlfriend_ (wow the word sounds lovely in her head). 

"Well, see, I haven't exactly finished my story yet," she sighs sadly, looking off to the side as she recounts the memory. "When I got back to my place, it was completely trashed."

"Oh, no," Laura breathes, raising a hand to her mouth, her finger tracing the dip above her lip. "Carm, I'm so sorry. Was it your-- was it the dean?"

Carmilla nods, forcing her eyes to swerve back to Laura's. "Yes." Her voice is barely audible, but Laura can hear it well; you could hear a pin drop in that silence. "She must've found it, and ruined my only sanctuary in this lifetime."

"How badly was it trashed?" Laura's curiosity gets the better of her, and a few seconds ago, she's started devising a plan that she's quite proud of.

"The wallpaper has been shredded, the furniture looks like it's been cut with a chainsaw, and the door is practically ripped off of its hinges."

"Can you bring me anyway?" Laura bites her lip, already knowing Carmilla's reaction to her question. And she's pretty much spot on: Carmilla's eyes widen to the size of golf balls, and her eyebrows furrow as she tries to make sense of what Laura has just asked. But before she can even respond, Laura elaborates: "I want to see your sanctuary. I want to help you fix it."

Carmilla's expression softens, and her eyebrows return to their normal state: looking smooth and perfect. 

"That's very sweet of you, Laura, but--"

Laura raises a finger to her lips, and Carmilla practically jumps with surprise.

"Please, baby."

The pet name that was spoken in that Starbucks cafe does wonders to Carmilla's stomach, and she's wondering if Laura would be able to hear the butterflies fluttering around in there if she were to press her ear against it. It's that pet name, the look that Laura's now giving her (Carmilla swears she has never seen a human look more like a puppy until this moment), and the fact that Laura even suggested the idea that push her to say yes. Once she does, Laura squeals and grips onto Carmilla's clothing to pull her in for an embrace, and she wonders how she got so damn lucky. 

 

In all of her 334 years of undead existence, she has never been as lucky as she is now. And she doesn't even mind that she had to wait so long for Laura; in of all her squealing, overly-excited, hand squeezing glory, Carmilla knows she is her four leaf clover in her otherwise bleak reality. And Carmilla knows Laura was totally, and completely worth the wait. 

 

-

 

"So, is that a yes?"

Even though it's completely dark in the room, Carmilla knows Laura's lip is being bitten. 

"A yes to what?" Carmilla asks, while they're huddled up against each other. She's running her fingers up the length of Laura's arm to the sound of the rushing water outside. The house does very little to block out the cold, and the sounds of nature, apparently. 

"To you being my girlfriend." Laura states it like it's the most obvious thing in the world, even though it's been hours since that conversation. 

Carmilla laughs, because she realizes she had never actually answered Laura's earlier question due to their lips being preoccupied. 

"It's a yes." 

A high pitched squeal fills the room, and strong arms squeeze Carmilla into a tight embrace. This, in turn, draws a loud laugh from the vampire, and she nuzzles her face into Laura's neck.

"Oh, cupcake. You never fail to make me smile."

Those words sound pretty good coming from the lips of a brooding vampire, Laura thinks. Pretty damn good, indeed. 


	11. these mornings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is sickly sweet. Also, it's late, and I just wanted to post this tonight, so it's unedited. I'll probably edit it in the morning but enjoy for now! Also, I'll probably set the amount of chapters, and Paris will be explored next chapter (I'm so sorry)

The sun casts long vertical shadows across the room from the blinds draped in front of the balcony doors. Laura wakes before Carmilla, not a surprise, honestly, and she languidly lifts her head off of Carmilla's chest. She knows Carmilla doesn't need to breathe, but watching her chest rise and fall slowly from time to time is calming. It's almost as if she wants to hold onto something from her humanity, sort of like how she always steals Laura's food from her plate. Filling an emptiness inside of her, Laura assumes. If souls even exist and can be examined, she imagines how Carmilla's soul would look like. She imagines the dark corners of her that symbolize her previous life developing cobwebs and spiders if she leaves it alone long enough, and Laura can suddenly understand why Carmilla does mundane things that are practically useless to her. 

The streak of light running across Carmilla's face makes her look like a sleeping angel, Laura thinks, so she finds herself staring, wondering what dreams still dance in her head after 300 years. Her mind is running wild with the thought of what dreams Carmilla had all of those centuries ago. Does she still dream about the same things now as she did, even a century ago? Does she ever have reoccurring dreams? Or, is her head filled with nightmare after nightmare, her mind forcing her to relive her death, her destruction, and her sorrow? 

As if Carmilla can feel Laura's analyzing eyes, her eyes flutter open, her lips pursing tightly as her face scrunches sleepily, accompanied with a groan emitting from the back of her throat. Carmilla can feel Laura shift on the half of her body that she's laying on while she stretches her arms and legs, grunting softly as she does so. Once her entire body shrinks back and relaxes, she smiles contentedly in the eyes of the curious woman practically grasping onto her. 

"Good morning," Laura says quietly, mirroring her smile. She reminds Carmilla of an eager cat that is preparing to pounce their prey, which is ironic, of course, considering she is the cat in the relationship. 

"Morning," Carmilla rasps, and she leans in to kiss Laura's forehead, avoiding her eyes. It's funny, because she's always had trouble saying the full morning greeting, however, today it's a subject she can easily push aside in her busy mind, seeing as she feels the complete opposite of the words Laura's just muttered. She has her bad days, and then she has her _bad days._ Laura's yet to figure that out, but Carmilla has an instinctive feeling that she will very soon. 

 

-

 

"Do you want some tea poured into your blood?"

Carmilla is sitting on the couch with her elbows propped on her knees, her fingers rubbing her temples in a circular pattern as her eyes close tightly. Laura emerges from the kitchen with a mug in each hand- a hot chocolate for her, and some type A for Carmilla. She assumes the lack of a response is a "no" for tea. She sits beside her carefully, reminding her of the mug by resting it on top of her thigh with a loose grip on the handle so it doesn't topple over. Carmilla's eyes open slowly and forcefully, and her pupils drift over to the cup in the corner of her vision. 

"Thanks."

She sits up straight, taking the mug from Laura and sipping it. She drags the sigh that escapes from her lips. 

"How are you feeling?" Laura begins to rub big circles on Carmilla's back, and she seems to visibly relax from the contact. 

"Crappy."

"Your head still hurts?"

Carmilla nods, and even that seems to cause her pain, because she winces and raises her free hand to press her fingers deeply into the middle of her forehead. 

"Just rest, babe," Laura suggests (she doesn't miss the small smile appear on Carmilla's face, despite her pain), standing up to make room for Carmilla to lay down on the couch. She complies, handing Laura her long forgotten cup as she tucks her legs in, covering the small length of the couch and nuzzling the pillow under her head. Laura brings her the blanket from the other couch, and it's woolly and thick and wonderful (Laura prefers it when they watch movies in the living room, which almost always ends up in them falling asleep on the couches), so she drapes it over Carmilla, cloaking her in its never-ending warmth. Before she leaves the room, she leans down to kiss Carmilla's forehead, trying her best not to jump in shock from the icy skin underneath her lips. She stands back as calmly as she can, gently running her finger along her equally freezing cheek, guiding her finger to tuck her hair behind her ear. She leaves the room shortly, once she hears Carmilla's carefully practiced breathing even out. 

 

-

 

"I think it's from the blood I drank yesterday."

Laura looks up instantly from the newspaper she was completely enthralled in, lowering it to stare at Carmilla across the table. She isn't looking at her, her eyes focusing intently on the totally boring kitchen tiles. 

"The headaches?"

Carmilla nods, and a few moments later her eyes finally drag themselves from the suddenly interesting floor to lock with Laura's. 

"You can have bad blood?"

"It's the only substance my body needs to sustain itself, so if I consume unhealthy blood, no matter how rare the situation is, it takes a few days to detox from my system."

"But you'll be okay?" Laura knows she looks incredibly worried, because she is, but the smile on Carmilla's face helps a bit, but only a bit. 

"I'll be fine," she reassures her, "this has happened countless times. It's the only time vampires can really feel sick. It's pretty much our version of the common cold- except, less common. You humans are so fragile," she jokes, smirking as Laura lightly touches her foot to Carmilla's shin. 

"Hey," she warns. Laura's smiling though, and Carmilla reaches to lay her hand on hers from across the short distance between them. 

"I'll be fine, but..."

Laura's smile falls rapidly, and she stiffens.

"... I still want that blood tea," Carmilla continues, before Laura panics even more. She smiles as she watches Laura place her other hand to her heart, shaking her head accusingly at Carmilla's poor choice of the pause in her sentence. Laura's smile reappears, though, and Carmilla squeezes her hand to further reassure her. "I'm immortal, cutie. Blood keeps me kicking, remember?"

Laura laughs, "Speaking of kicking." She jabs her foot into Carmilla's shin, less lightly this time. Carmilla feigns faux pain, dramatically reaching for her leg while Laura glares at her jokingly as she shakes her head. "Stupid vampire."

 

-

 

Laura's never taken care of a vampire before, so when Carmilla demands constant blood and junk food from the local store in town on day four of Operation: Through Sickness and Health, Laura has no choice but to follow her (impatient) instructions. For the past few days, Laura had been running around the house to make sure nothing would even stress Carmilla a tiny bit, even though Carmilla didn't care about mess- she just wanted food. Okay, and some blankets, and the heating pad (wherever it always disappeared to), and the house's temperature to be changed constantly. She was either sweating buckets, or shivering visibly while chattering her teeth. Laura had ran back and forth from Carmilla to the temperature monitor to readjust the heating and the air conditioning, disregarding her own overheating or numbness (whichever temperature the house was set at, of course, affected Laura far more than it did Carmilla). And now, Laura's slipping on her shoes to go into town and pick up some blood and food for her. Carmilla had told her that she has a supplier in town and he's very trustworthy, so it's okay if Laura goes instead of her (albeit with a very stuffed nose, so it sounded more like, "I have a supplier in down and he'd very trudtwortdy, do don't worry." Laura had to stifle a laugh at the seriousness of Carmilla's voice and the adorable plugged nose pronunciation she had going on. Unfortunately, her voice is coming back already, much to Laura's displeasure). 

It's a short walk to the small village, and Laura tries not to dawdle, but the architecture is gorgeous, and the cobblestone streets aren't making it easy, either. It looks like it had been taken out of a fairy tale, and Laura's eyes are twinkling and she feels like a ten year old again as she makes her way to the grocery store. She wheels a miniature shopping cart around the store, dropping bags of chips and grape soda into it. It isn't long before it's practically filled to the brim, and she's in the middle of an inner debate between two brands of chocolate sauce when she hears a clearing of a throat. She immediately glances up from the bottles in her hands, apologizing and stepping aside to let a girl have access to the shelf she had been standing in front of for probably five minutes. 

"No, no, it's okay," the girl says with a smile, her heavy English accent influenced by her native German tongue. She looks like she's in her mid twenties, wearing a stylish blouse and knee-high boots. She steps forward to retrieve a jar of Nutella, and looks back at Laura. Her eyebrows furrow, and Laura blinks at the girl's pondering expression. Her eyes suddenly widen as she realizes she must've been staring for too long, and apologizes shyly. "It's just that I thought you looked a bit... similar, that's all."

"You mean familiar?" Laura asks with a gentle smile. The girl's face reddens immensely, and she nods profusely. 

"Yes, yes, familiar. You look very familiar!" she adds with a laugh, and Laura joins her.

"Well, I just arrived in town about a week ago and I've been in the village a couple of times," Laura suggests once their laughter subsides. Realization dawns on the girl, and she nods. 

"Yes, I saw you next door! You're a friend of the girl who lives there?"

"Well, yes, sort of," Laura admits with a grin that she can't help spreading across her face. She can almost hear Carmilla's snickering in her head.

"We don't see her often, just once every few years," she explains, and Laura begins to panic a bit. How long had Carmilla lived here for? And did they see her face over the years? How was Laura supposed to explain something she had no idea about? 

"Oh, really," she asks, even though it comes out expressionless and it doesn't even sound anything like a question. Which, of course, makes her sound even more sketchy and she regrets her lack of emotion until she realizes the girl completely disregards it. 

"Yes! Is she alright?"

"Oh... Yes, she's fine," Laura answers, uncertainty lacing her voice. The girl must notice, because she apologizes again. 

"We just know everyone here, and we think it is a bit odd that we never see her. She's always by herself when we do though, and it's never for more than a few days. You see, when you live in a small town, it's not hard to notice it's people," she says with a polite smile. Laura silently curses Carmilla for having to put her in this situation. How was she supposed to know when she bought the damn place?! If she says anything wrong, she knows it'll look too suspicious, so she settles for vagueness. 

"Right, yes, she owns a  _lot_ of property around the world, actually!" Laura leans in and exaggeratedly whispers with a hand cupped around the side of her mouth, "She's very, _very_  rich."

"Oh," the girl says with wide eyes. "That explains it."  

Laura nods and smiles, leaning back. 

"It's very odd to see someone with her after all of these years. If you don't mind me asking, what is her name?"

_Shoot._

Laura stiffens, and wracks her brain for something,  _anything_ that can help her answer the question without giving anything away. What if she bought the house under another name? Well, she did only use anagrams for her alternate names in different lifetimes. 

"Mircalla," Laura finally answers, after what must be a long time for such a simple question. 

"Oh, that's right, I remember now," the girl says with a pointed index finger waving at Laura. "Mircalla Karnstein, right?"

"Yup, that's my girl!"

It takes a second for Laura to realize what she just said, and her eyes widen as her face shamefully burns with a heat that is most likely (definitely) visible. The girl only smirks and chuckles lightly, and Laura exhales out of relief.

"Well, not a friend, then," she winks. "Well, it was nice to meet you..." She trails off, waiting for Laura to finish her sentence for her, raising her hand.

"Oh! I'm Laura," she says with a shy smile, reaching out to shake her hand after she tucks a bottle of chocolate sauce under her arm. 

"Nice to meet you then, Laura. I'm Harriet."

And with that, she waves her goodbye and turns to leave. Laura's shoulders slump as she relaxes, and retrieves the now warm bottle from her armpit. She looks down at her options again, rolling her eyes while abruptly sliding the cheaper one back on the shelf. Carmilla likes living lavishly. 

 

-

 

 " _You got me Doritos_?" 

Carmilla's tone is definitely close to love (she practically just whined out of happiness), and Laura snorts a bit as she hears the bag being ripped open in the living room. 

"Oh, God."

A series of moans follows those words, and Laura smirks, walking into the room and leaning against the wall. Carmilla is devouring the chips, and she's probably already eaten half of the bag when she finally notices Laura's presence. She looks up with wide eyes, and smiles bashfully while the chips sticking out of her mouth fall into her lap as she chews. 

"You're such a messy eater," Laura says while shaking her head, but she has a smile on her face as she steps forward, leaning down and proceeding to pick the chip bits from Carmilla's crotch. 

"Yes I am," she replies proudly, and Laura doesn't even have to look up to know she's smirking (she knows her way too well). Then, with another mouthful of chips, "Thanks, love."

Laura almost freezes (because even though it's _super_ embarrassing), she  _still loves it,_  butinstead smiles to herself and collects the chip residue in her hand, standing up to look down at a messy-haired, sick Carmilla. She's still currently crunching when Laura leans down to press her lips very lightly against her cheek. 

"Oh, sure, touch me as if you'll catch this," Carmilla jokes. Laura rolls her eyes, making her way to the kitchen to make dinner (Carmilla's especially needy now, and recently, a home cooked meal has been added onto her list of demands, despite the absolute _zero_ difference human food makes in regards to her diet). 

"So, I met a certain  _Harriet_ at the supermarket," Laura says, extending the name as if she's mocking it (because yes, she is just a tiny bit jealous, even if she won't admit it to herself) while she searches the cabinets above the stove for a certain spice. 

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. She's your neighbor, did you know that?"

Laura finds the oregano, setting it on the counter before she sifts through the fridge for the lamb that she had placed there a few days prior to defrost. 

"Nope, I didn't."

"Well, she knew your name was Mircalla, which is weird, because don't you change your name like once every eighty years for the people who believe you're dead, and so their relatives don't know who you are? Just to be safe?"

"No, I changed it every twenty years because of my mother. And sometimes I'd just reuse names after a few decades."

"Lazy vampire," Laura mutters, placing the lamb in the microwave as the corner of her lip tugs into a small smile. 

"Hey, I can hear you," she says, around another mouthful of chips. Laura can only laugh at her attempt to sound threatening. 

(She only acknowledges her previous jealousy's existence once she hears that Carmilla really didn't dabble in too many worldwide affairs with multiple beautiful women, like she thought she had)

 

-

 

Laura's sitting on the couch, staring at her neatly folded clothes sitting in her suitcase. She's deciding whether or not to bring  _two_  shampoo bottles instead of just  _one,_ (because Carmilla sheds like crazy and she steals whatever Laura buys for herself) when the sound of something hitting against the front door jerks her attention away from her current dilemma. Her head pops up toward the sound, and she tentatively moves to the door as quiet as she can, but the wood creaks and groans under her small feet. She peeks out the window in the door and sees no one, so she unlocks the door and peers outside. She finds herself looking at a newspaper and some fliers attached to it with an elastic that threatens to snap if stretched just a tiny bit more. She smiles at herself when she realizes her fear was silly, and she bends down to pick it up. She's reading the headline that's written in German, and she honestly isn't that bad at the language, but she still struggles to translate it. She recognizes the word "daily" when she shuts the door behind her with her foot.

"Carm?"

A small hum in response from the other room is what follows, and Laura's eyebrows furrow as she scans the dirty paper. 

"Who picked up your newspaper for you when you were out of town?"

She sets it on the table in the doorway, and walks a few paces into the living room, only to stop mid-step. Carmilla is bending down in front of her, rummaging around in Laura's suitcase, probably searching for that hairbrush that she loves so much, but Laura can only focus on that small sliver of skin peeking out from between her loose shirt and her leather pants. She inhales sharply, and purses her lips at the sight of the exposed flesh. She almost walks over and runs her fingers delicately across Carmilla's smooth skin,  _almost,_ but their train arrives early tomorrow morning and they can't miss it. Carmilla had planned for everything, and so missing the specific train would not only mess up her very carefully articulated agenda, but also  _drive her up the wall,_ which would most definitely involve the snapping of some furniture, and maybe even a few threatening phrases.

So instead (sadly), she steps around the leaning girl who is currently throwing around Laura's once carefully folded clothing, opening a large pouch on the inside of the suitcase and blindly feels around in her heap of panties. 

"For  _fucks sakes,_ where is the damn--"

Laura retrieves her hand, and the hairbrush, offering it to Carmilla. 

"Oh, thanks."

She lifts the brush, sliding it through her bangs once, and when they flop back down on her forehead, she hands it back to Laura.

"That's _it_? That's  _all_ you needed it for?" _  
_

Carmilla makes a face that definitely screams, "uh, duh?"

Laura rolls her eyes, but she can't help laughing at the ridiculous vampire.

"I can't believe I ever thought you were intimidating, you're just a huge dork," Laura jests, lightly flicking the bottom of Carmilla's bangs.

"Say what you will, cupcake, but I will never reach your level of dorkiness."

Carmilla's already walking away when Laura mutters, "Sure," under her breath while neatly refolding a shirt. 

"Vampire hearing really hasn't gotten through to you, has it, creampuff?"

Laura rolls her eyes again, but playfully (she thinks all of this passive aggressive behavior from Carmilla is rubbing off on her, but she tells herself it's okay because she always does it out of love, like, like-love, like-like, whatever). 

"I can practically hear the rolling of your eyeballs from all the way over here, Laura," calls a voice from the kitchen. 

Laura hums appreciatively while she folds a pair of her jeans. 

 

-

 

 She expected the road trip to be exhausting, really, she did, because staying in one seat for approximately eleven hours and twenty-nine minutes is a daunting task for Laura Hollis, and apparently, even more so for Carmilla Karnstein. Laura couldn't sleep much last night, which was honestly very predictable, considering it was always like this the night before the first day of school, or the night before first dates, or the night before exams, or the-- well, basically anything that causes excitement/anxiety for her. Carmilla had slept like a baby the night before, but her eyes are currently darting back and forth from the windows, floors, and the ceilings of the train car, and she looks like she hasn't slept in days. Her hand is gripping Laura's arm, and Laura tries her hardest to endure the pain of her nails sinking into her forearm because she's afraid that this is one of the many circumstances that they both silently agreed to never speak about, which she knows is the result of Carmilla's unmerciful life. 

The confined train car is too constricting for her, and Laura can only offer her arm for sharp nails to sink into, in hopes that it will help relieve her panic. If she wraps an arm around Carmilla, she's afraid that it will further enclose her into a tight space, and that's the last thing she wants right now. Laura directs her gaze to the window, and watches Carmilla's reflection rather than the scenery. She knows that having someone breathe down your neck during these kinds of moments only makes it harder to inhale and exhale (even though Carmilla doesn't need to breathe, she does anyway, more so in these moments), so she keeps a close eye on her while pretending to do otherwise. It works eventually, because by about five hours into their ride, Carmilla's shoulders seem to relax a tiny bit, and that's enough for Laura to know that she'll be okay. 

She rests her free hand across her stomach, fingertips just barely touching Carmilla's hand.

That seems to help a bit, too. 

 

-

 

"Laura Hollis, if you don't hurry it up, I swear to the ancient Sumerian tome you currently use as a bathmat, I will leave you here."

"Okay, okay! Just..." 

A pause, and then: a nearby tapping of a foot quickly grows louder at the sound of Laura's finger loudly tapping the camera button on her new iPhone.

"Laura, that's your fiftieth picture of the exact same clock on the wall," Carmilla groans, shifting from one foot to the other. The train beside her starts to pull away, and she rolls her eyes at her slow girlfriend. 

"Okay, okay, I have enough, I think." 

She pauses, flipping through a few of the pictures she had just taken, "So, tell me again why we didn't just use one of your cars?"

Carmilla clears her throat, hooking her thumbs under the straps of her backpack. "Long story. Can you hurry it up, please? You are literally the human embodiment of a snail."

Laura turns around to walk back to Carmilla, only to look up from her phone to the platform parallel to the one they'd just arrived on. She gasps loudly, whipping her phone up again to capture the seemingly normal view, and Carmilla groans louder as her head rolls back in a half circle. 

Laura manages to capture the seemingly normal train station about fifty-eight times, and it takes them approximately thirty-six minutes to exit the station. Carmilla grumbles for the entire drive to their hotel, something about "screwing up her itinerary", but Laura can't really hear her over Paris.

 

-

 

 They're in a small town just outside of Paris, and it's late, so Laura's already asleep with her cheek pressed against the window of the taxi. Carmilla pulls her gently towards her when she notices, and her head falls into her lap. Carmilla runs her fingers through her hair rhythmically, humming the quiet tune of an old song that no one in this lifetime could put a name on. When they finally arrive at their destination (she mentally kicks herself when she realizes she should have mapped out the exact directions for the taxi driver, instead of letting him take the longest route in the world), she drops a wad of cash on the passenger seat and exits the car to unload their luggage. She unlocks her house, dropping the bags inside on the aging wood, and jogs back to the car to lift Laura out and into her arms. She carries her like she's her bride, but it just feels too familiar- like no time had passed at all since her last brutal kill, and the way she had carried her victim to a long-forgotten lake in Germany with shaking hands and tear-filled eyes. She swipes the memory away like it's only a gust of win, and she lays Laura down on her bed, walking back to the heap of bags in the doorway while searching for Laura's pajamas. Carmilla quickly exchanges her clothes to the ones she'd found in Laura's luggage, and carefully lifts her underneath the blankets. She doesn't even take the time to change into another set of clothes, she just lifts her shirt over her head and slips her shorts off, crawling into the bed beside Laura. She settles behind her, her fingers running along the expanse of Laura's stomach under her tank top, and she nuzzles her head against her back. 

"Goodnight, Laura."

She kisses her bare shoulder before dozing off into a peaceful slumber a few minutes later, relaxing against the rhythmic rise and fall of Laura's upper body. 

She's alive, and free, and she has _Laura,_ so maybe it is a good night.

 

-

 

"Carm."

Her cheek suddenly gets poked, and Carmilla's eyes  _finally_ open (with much difficulty), but only after about four consistent pokes. 

"Carm," Laura urges. 

"Hmm?"

Carmilla yawns and stretches like the giant panther she is, and Laura just giggles at the sight of her flopping over to lay on her stomach and stretching her hands out in front of her. 

"Are we in your house?"

Carmilla relaxes, her eyebrow raising. She turns half of her body to look at the girl sitting beside her, whose looking down at her like she was the one who invented the chocolate chip cookie.

"Huh. I guess we are," she says, scratching her head and tangling her curls in the process. 

"You forgot?" Laura smirks, and Carmilla gives her a look that  _dares_ her to say another word. Laura takes that chance to look around, because she's still mind-blown that Carmilla had even agreed to showing her such a sacred part of her past, and she examines the room for the second time that morning since waking up. The dark wooden floors match the light brown wooden walls, and there is an ancient rectangular carpet placed directly underneath the bed. The queen bed takes up most of the space in the small box of a room that really only houses the bed, and the wall beside the bed barely even classifies as a proper wall because there is far more window than dry wall. It's so small and cozy, which is something that Laura definitely did  _not_ expect a second time with Carmilla (she's still kind of baffled there was a first time). 

"It's the smallest room in the house," Carmilla explains. "But it had the biggest window."

She glances towards the curtain-covered window, and Laura follows her gaze. The window is perfect for the nights when Carmilla feels like she's suffocating again, and she had designed and built it herself after she shut the world out when she had emerged from her coffin. She's very grateful for this room remaining intact throughout her mother's rampage, and she's slightly afraid to show Laura the rest of the house. The tiny place holds a very special place in her heart and to show the destruction of what used to be her sanctuary is scary. Almost like really letting someone in.

The sun shines through the almost transparent curtains, and it fills the room with a golden glow that illuminates Carmilla's features just perfectly, and Laura just can't stop obsessing over the light that shines on someone who claims darkness,  _can't_ stop staring at her, because she's so damn perfect, and how could she not have admitted it to herself the very first day Carmilla had stepped foot in that dorm room, and-

"I can feel your eyeballs burning into my  _soul,"_ Carmilla jokes, jerking her head to look into Laura's eyes. But Laura can't find anything in her vocabulary that will help her now, so she simply remains silent, instead reaching up to cup Carmilla's cheek with her hand. 

"Good morning," she blurts out, gazing into the vulnerable brown pupils examining her own. Carmilla looks taken aback, perhaps because she was expecting a playful retort from the tiny girl, or perhaps because she's still not entirely familiar with the "good morning's" and the "good night's" and the "have a good day's".

"Good morning," she echoes.

She allows herself the full repetition of the phrase this time, because she knows it's good; even with the suffocating train cars, and the small, dark rooms, and the heavy, confined blankets, it's better than good nowadays. 

 


End file.
